Evangelion: The Death God War
by zidaneace
Summary: Long after the destruction of Earth, in a distant part of the galaxy, Earth’s sole surviving human fights against the powers of the Death Gods and his own internal conflict. The scariest thing is he is more like them than he’d like to be!
1. Chapter 1

**Plot Spoiler!**

_Author's notes:_ Lets face it, the conclusion to Evangelion kind of sucked! Shinji never gets laid, the world is left a waste land with a huge half-a-head of Rei on it and the only two people left alive are Shinji and Asuka. All and all not a good day for the human species. So for the set up of my fan-fic, pretend that everything on NGE happened except the final scene where you see Shinji and Asuka lying there. This will be a new story revolving around what happened after the destruction of humanity.

**WARNING:** This fan-fic _will_ contain violence, language, adult themes, angst, names of made up alien people, items, worlds, etc and cameos from other anime and TV shows. It could also contain depictions of nudity and sex later on, so brace your self!

Disclaimer: Guess what? I own absolutely nothing contained in this fan-fic! Be it Eva or any other show I will give credit to.

_**Evangelion: The Death God War**_

**Chapter 1: The New Kid (Prologue)**

Two million years have passed since all of the Earth's inheritance ceased to exist, and for nearly two million years the only evidence that they every existed drifted through the vastness of space, seemingly without direction. It slowly moved through the galaxy known as the milky way, until it found its way into an area of space known as the Cluster Worlds. This place derives its name from the fact that there are well over three hundred stars, planets, planetoids and moons within a light-year. This place has existed for several million years and has seen the rise and fall of many species, cultures, nations, and religions. Here is where our new story begins, right in the middle of a massive interplanetary revolution.

* * *

General Dolim tapped his clawed fingers impatiently as he waited for his subordinates to return with the updated report and his roasted Criga beetles. He always got hungry when he sent soldiers off to battle and nothing tasted better to a Reptilian Xindi than Criga beetles.

But even their wonderfully sour taste wouldn't ease his anger over the disappearance of General Shresht and his crew. The Xindi Insectoid's ship had been located adrift and abandoned near the planet of Sirece with no sign of anyone on board.

It was one thing to be destroyed in battle, but to simply vanish meant that they had lost to something without having stood a chance. In Dolim's mind, Reptilians were the ultimate fighters. Insectoids may come in a distant second, but they shouldn't lose so easily against any of their current enemies.

And if losing the stupid bug wasn't enough, he had to be the one to 're-stabilize' this front. A small sector not vital to the Death God Empire or its war against the rebellion. These facts festered in Dolim's mind until a young crewmen interrupted his thoughts.

"Sir. I've brought the report on the power fluctuation, but your beetles won't be ready for~" The crewman was cut off.

The hapless crewman was unaware of General Dolim's short temper and bad mood. It was clear Dolim had never heard the phrase 'Don't shoot the messenger.' He grabbed the smaller Reptilian by the collar of his uniform and put his knife up to his throat. The rest of the bridge crew ignored the plight of their comrade and kept working as if everything was normal (which for the ones who knew Dolim, it was).

"If I do not have my beetles, than I do not want a damn report. I get edgy when I have to read a boring tech report on an empty stomach! And when I get really edgy, people die! So either bring me my beetles, enemies for me to kill, or speak your last words!" The General bellowed.

Dolim then slashed the crewman's cheek and shoved him to the ground. The young Reptilian quickly scrambled to his feet and out the door. However, letting the crewman go without killing him made the general's need for action, preferably of the violent type, worse.

He looked around for something to either harass or kill, but nothing looked too appealing. He noticed that the sensor operator was quietly staring at his screen observing the battle ahead of them.

He had sent four of his seven battleships on ahead to attack the small enemy convoy, which they'd been dispatched to destroy and it hardly seemed necessary for all the ships to be engaged in combat. On the other hand it meant he would be doing very little and it was starting to get to him.

Not having anything to kill, he decided to see how his ships were doing instead. Turning to his sensor operator he demanded to know the status of the battle, if it wasn't going well he really would kill something, probably the sensor operator. The operator knew General Dolim's tantrums very well, he knew he'd be in trouble if the fight was going badly. Fortunately for him everything appeared to be going smoothly.

"General, Commander Relnick reports that the enemy ships are weaker than his and their lines are beginning to fall in to chaos. It is only a matter of time before they are...Wait! Sir, three enemy battleships and a deleron carrier have just come out of Star Speed behind Commander Relnick! If they engage him he'll be out flanked and won't be able to fight back!" He said in a panic.

Although the sensor operator was terrified that he was about to be gutted for this bad turn of events, Dolim was actually ecstatic. Now here was a fight worthy of a Reptilian. The three battleships were no problem, an easy target for him, but that carrier made it much more challenging.

Almost all battleships (his included) carried a total of three delerons a piece, but a carrier had anywhere from ten to fifteen delerons on board. This meant his pilots would be out numbered over two to one. This made the General's blood pump. He couldn't wait to face those odds. Wasting no more time in getting to the action, he order that all three of his remaining ships charge into combat immediately.

"All Reptilians to battle! Eleven years is far to long a time for these rebels to have remain alive! Let them know that the Death God Empire and the strength of the Reptilians is eternal!" The Reptilian ordered.

The crew quickly got to work carrying out their leader's order. They primed the weapons and started up the engines. Everything went smoothly at first, but just as the helmsmen throttled up the impulse drive, the sound of the ship's engines suddenly went from a low roar to dead silent.

Many of the bridge sensor panels, screens and lights went dark. The two other ships, unaware of their lead ships malfunction, hurriedly proceeded onward with their task, without Dolim. Needless to say, the large Reptilian was furious. He nearly smashed the communications panel on his chair as he began barking orders and demanding answers.

"Power Room, what's going on!...Power Room, answer me!...Power Room, can you hear~" He tried to speak but was immediately interrupted.

Dolim's rage was cut short by a flash from his view screen. Looking up he found that his two other warships had been replaced by two fireballs. His instincts now told him that he was not suffering from simple malfunctions, but sabotage! He managed to keep the panic out of his voice, but it was clear to all that they were in serious trouble.

"Security, repair crews, everyone, stations immediately! Is anyone there!" The general desperately tried to call for help.

"I'm afraid no one is available to help you escape, Dolim." Came a voice.

Dolim tried to find the source of the voice that had suddenly appeared, but before he could look around, all of the remaining lights went out. A split second, later the room erupted in the sound of weapons fire. Dolim's eyes quickly adjusted to the light of the blaster fire, but all he could see were the figures of his own men and they were quickly falling one after the other. The general rushed to one of the emergence lighting panels and fussed with the buttons when he reached it.

He finally managed to turn on the emergence lighting just in time to see the last of his bridge crew collapse to the ground, but he also saw something else. Just to the side of the fallen solider was a distortion of light. It was somewhat in the shape of a humanoid and was barely visible.

Optical camouflage, Dolim had heard of this. The power necessary to maintain it was said to be so high as to make it impossible to use for any amount of time, but clearly that wasn't the case anymore. If Dolim could capture this technology, it might compensate for the loses he'd suffered today.

General Dolim did not look directly at the distortion, so as not to alert it, and kept in the corner of his eye. Who ever it was probably didn't know how good Reptilian eyes were and thought he was completely invisible. He need to get something he had hidden in a bulkhead, something he'd saved for just such an occasion.

He move as though looking for the one who'd attacked them, but secretly moving towards the bulkhead. He also needed to keep the attacker's mind off his movements. For the blood thirsty warrior only one course of action was acceptable, and that was to challenge it.

"To whom do I owe the honor of being attacked by?" he asked.

His question was met with a monotone, disembodied voice.

"Just someone interested in twenty-five thousand dygems." the voice replied.

That response gained a 'Humph.' out of Dolim, who had heard that the leaders of the rebellion had put a price on his head, but he hardly expected anyone would be crazy enough to try and collect it. The questionable sanity of the assailant, did not stop Dolim from taunting him, as he continued his slow inconspicuous walk toward the bulkhead.

"So your a low life, scum sucking, lawless, spineless, greed bounty hunter." the Reptilian sneered

The voice remained in its monotone state.

"Actually I'm a _contracted_ low life, scum sucking, lawless, spineless, greed bounty hunter, but yes." The voice said calmly

Contracted meant someone had asked this person to go hunt him. This did not bother Dolim as he inched closer to his target all the while keeping the distorted light in the corner of his eye.

"I know the bounty on my head. It's an 'Alive Only' deal. You get nothing if I die." He smirked.

"True. But you're not dead, now are you." said the voice.

He figured he would be if this didn't work, but Dolim was nearly there just a few inches more.

"How do you sleep at night, knowing that you trade lives for money?" He said trying to keep the voice distracted.

"Ironically I was worried about that too...at least at first. But then I learned about the men I was hunting. And I realized that most of them might not deserve to live. Men like...you General Dolim." It said.

The General stopped when he heard this, but not from shock or anger, but because he was finally at the bulkhead. Now he just needed a brief diversion. He decided to keep trying to agitate him, and see if he'd slip up.

"Oh. Why do I not deserve to be alive?" He said in a mocking voice of worry.

"There have been a lot of rumors about you. The one I am most interested in is the one I've heard about your infant son. Supposedly, when you discovered that he had a small deformity in his arm, that which made him ineligible for military service, you killed him. Any truth to it?" It asked still in monotone.

"Of course! I would destroy anything that carries my blood and would do me shame! No man should be father to something so weak!" He yelled angry about the near disgrace he would have fell.

"...You are...the type of person I hate most." The voice said slowly.

The voice never lost its monotone sound, but Dolim picked up on a hint of remorse. A sign of weakness to a Reptilian. It might very well be the distraction he was looking for.

"It sounds as though your father and I have things in common. We both get rid of useless people, even our own flesh and blood if necessary." He poked at the voice.

The statement produced the reaction that Dolim was hoping for, dead silence. He then discreetly raised his hand to the hidden compartment and readied himself. He cautiously looked over to the distortion and was planning his attack when he heard the disembodied voice again.

"If I am useless, what does that make you, who so easily lost to me?" The voice finally replied.

That made the General more enraged than ever before. He ripped off the compartment door and pulled out the large gun behind it. Charging at the distortion, he pointed the weapon and just before he pulled the trigger he screamed.

"NEVER GLOAT UNTIL YOUR ENEMY IS A COLD DEAD CORPSE!"

The anti-light armor pulse blaster discharged its heavy rounds out from its large barrel. Dolim was in a full on charge. The room was filled with a deafening sound. And before the General could register what was going on, a bright orange flash had him on his back.

He was only dazed for a moment, but he quickly realized that his pulse blaster was badly damaged and was now useless. It had impacted on a strange energy wall that had appeared in front of him.

It looked as if it were made of several orange octagons, one inside another. It had completely absorbed the attack. Dolim was no stranger to hyper-shields, but the energy for one was even bigger than optical camouflage and the smallest generator for one was at least ten feet tall. What he was seeing was technically impossible. Yet it was happening.

"Please be careful General. My A.T. Field can be quite painful if you hit it." came the voice in its usual monotone sound.

Dolim's eye finally located the owner of the voice, who was no longer invisible. It was a humanoid. It was notably shorter than a Reptilian, but not very small and seemed to look like a young man. His black hair was down to his neck and his eyes were covered by light blue-gray visor like glasses with circular shaped objects, that covered each ear, on either side.

He had on a black robe that was partly open and revealed a tight, form fitting flight suit or battle armor which had a dark gray in color on the chest section while the stomach to the feet were covered in dark blue-gray.

Around its neck was a strangely shaped, yet simple, ordainment on a chain like necklace. And last, but not least, in his hand was a medium sized dull silver hand gun type weapon, which, surprisingly, was pointed at the ground and not at him. General Dolim spit out the small amount of purple colored blood that was in his mouth and stood. As he did the A.T. Field vanished, but the humanoid remained visible.

He slowly reached down to his waist band, where his high strength steel-titanium knife was concealed. He figured if the man hadn't disappeared again and his field was now gone that must mean he was out of power, but this was only a guess. He decided to try the distraction game again hopefully throwing off the young man. He may have lost his technical defenses, but he could very well be a decent fighter.

"You're a strange one aren't you?" the general said plainly.

"You are not the only one to have that opinion. Now then General, why don't you and I calmly leave, shall we?" He said.

The gun was now raised and Dolim could see an image inside the visor that look like a targeting reticule, and it was now targeting him. Dolim didn't expect to come out of this alive, but he was at least going to take this creature with him. He decided then to forgo the distractions and lunged at him with his knife drawn, trying to thrust it in to him.

He felt at least three rounds hit him in the chest, but he had just about made it to the face of his shooter. He was about to start slashing when red blur passed in front of him cutting the knife in half.

A fraction of a second later and a blow to his side had him stumbling to the ground. Dolim tried to stand but a metal object pressed against his head halted his movements. He shifted his head a little towards the young man, but he could only see up to his chest.

However he could see that he now possessed a large red blade that was definitely not there before. It looked like it was a solid blade and not one made of energy which only added to the list of this creature oddities.

Dolim then tried to bat at the gun pressed against his head, but his arm was unusually numb. Upon inspection, he found a red gel on his shoulder, as well as two more on his chest. The numbing sensation told him it was some type of tranquilizer.

"A stun weapon? I'm a general of the Xindi Army and you come at me with a stun weapon?" He said in disgust.

"Like you said, if you die there's no money." the young man replied.

The young man felt pressure on his gun as Dolim pushed his head against it in defiance. It was obvious that he was getting ready to pounce again.

"Now General, why don't you take it easy? We can calmly walk out of here, in a peaceful manner, which is preferable, or I can stun and then have to carry you. Ether way, your days of fighting for the Empire are over. Don't worry the Death Gods will be right behind you." the young man's voice was as monotone as always as he spoke.

The room fell completely silent for a minute or two, before a chuckling sound could be heard. Seconds later it became a full blow laugh. A laugh that belonged to General Dolim. It was a good two minutes or more before Dolim let his captor in on the joke.

"Do you really think I am the first general to fall in the service to the Death Gods? Do you really think the revolt you serve is so different? Do you really think you are going to make a difference? Well then let me give you a little history lesson.

In the Death Gods' seven hundred year reign, they have seen eighteen rebellions prior to this one. In all of them, including this one, there have been no less than forty-six generals of the Empire, captured, killed or simply gone missing.

Of the solders and rebel leaders responsible for their captures, deaths and disappearances, all of them have had their heads severed from their bodies and put up on a pike, in the Imperial palace court yard, for the viewing pleasure of the royal court! So tell me, Why do you think you'll survive the wrath of the Death Gods?" He asked with a smile.

There was a pause before Dolim got an answer.

"'Death God' I don't like the term. It implies that someone is omnipotent and can only bring about destruction. Of course it's only given to those who used supernatural powers to bring about the end of their world, so it is somewhat appropriate.

What makes me think I can survive these so called 'Death Gods' is that I too am guilty of causing the destruction of my world with supernatural powers." He said with the slightest hint of sorrow in his words.

"You...you can't...can't be a...a..." Dolim tried, but failed to speak the words.

"A 'Death God'? I wish that I wasn't." said the young man

With that, a shot rang out as the young man pulled the trigger to his gun causing Dolim to fall over unconscious. He lied there groaning as the man who shot him stood over him and shook his head. It really would have been easier to have walked out, but he wasn't surprised that he would have to carry the nearly seven foot Reptilian.

The Xindi seemed unreasonable most of the time. He returned the gun to its holster on his back before reaching up to the side of his visor and activating the communicator. He hoped that he wasn't out of range.

"Doctor, It's Shinji. I'm finished here, how's that convoy doing?" The boy asked.

A chipper female voice quickly came through the headset.

"Great! The reinforcements have the other Xindi ships on the run!" said the woman on the other end.

"Good to know. In that case can you come pick me up?" Shinji asked.

"No prob! I'll be right there! You okay?" The young woman had a double meaning in her question, but Shinji would only refer to his physical state.

"Fine Mutio, just fine. But I'll probably have a back ache after having to carry Dolim all the way to the airlock." He said trying to sound agitated, but still coming across as monotone.

"Don't worry I've got something for that." Mutio chirped.

Shinji had heard her prescriptions for anything and everything and they almost always included a 'therapeutic' treatment.

"Doesn't that actually make back aches worse." He said.

"Depends on the position." she said with a small giggle.

"I'll be fine see you in a few minutes." Shinji finished, hoping that ending the conversation would drop the subject completely.

Shinji disconnected the link and moved to pick up Dolim. Shresht, the Insectoid Xindi was clearly far lighter. Reptilians probably weighed five times more than their insect like counterparts. He managed to get Dolim up over his shoulder and surprisingly Dolim's weight was not all that unbearable.

Shinji was a little confused, but disregarded it and made his way to the airlock. He got there as a Flapjack class transport ship approached the Reptilian's warship. Less then a minute later it latched on to the dock and sealed the two ships together.

The Flapjack transports were simple in design. The cargo section could be modified into several different functions, this ships cargo bay was built to hold one single deleron, although it was currently vacant. Just before the entrance to the habitat area were the holding cells.

Shinji approached it with the unconscious Dolim. He threw Dolim in to one of the cells, then, with the flip of a switch, the bars of the cell closed and began to glow blue as they were charged with energy.

The light blue glow dimly lit the cell room. The sounds of the bars closing caused the only other occupant to stir. Clicking sounds came from behind Shinji. The translator that had been put in his ear made quick sense of the weird clicking.

"_And what is the so called Death God up to now?_" it asked.

"Oh Shresht, your awake. You'll have someone to talk to in an hour or so. At least that's when the tranquilizers are suppose to ware off." Shinji said, trying to pay him little mind.

"_So now you have Dolim. Congratulations, you are now one step closer to your execution._" It said simply.

"Dolim said something similar. It's quite the cliché with you guys." the boy said, failing to add any sardonic tone to his voice.

"_It may be a cliché, but only because it's true. I don't know if you are a Death God, but even if you are, you'll have to fight against eight other Death Gods. You'll die for sure!_" It said hoping the boy would lose his cool.

"Death is no longer something that scares me." Shinji said this as he became lost in thought.

"_Sounds like someone who actually doesn't want to die._" Shresht said trying to delve deeper into his captors mind.

"That's not true. All my friends are dead. A lot of the time that's where I want to be. But I'd like to die trying to stop these Death Gods rather than kill myself." he Said looking back at the Insectoid.

"_Interesting. I hope I'm alive long enough to see a fight between you and a real Death God._" It said now giving up on the young man. It was clear that words were relatively useless on the being.

"You're not the only one." Shinji, again, spoke as he became lost in thought.

Shinji then departed for the habitat section. The hatch opened with the push of a button and closed the same way. When he turned around from closing the hatch to the cell section, his eyes met a pair of red glowing ones, which were a little too close. Shinji wasn't startled, but not because he was use to surprises. The reason he so easily dismissed the red eyed Doctor Mutio, was the reason she was so close.

"How do you feel Shinji? Any tense feelings?" the female Doctor asked.

"No. But I could use another dose." he said calmly.

Mutio removed the visor over Shinji's eyes. The visor suddenly compacted itself into the circular disks, becoming one circular disk. As Mutio placed the disk in its holding recess she looked up at a small thin metal object that had been concealed by the visor.

It was over Shinji's left eyebrow and part way down the side of his eye socket. The only features of the metal object were row of six dots, three raised and three sunk into the metal, and small hole next to the dots. The doctor looked closely at the small device.

"You still have half of your last dose left. Here, feel." She said.

The young female Aquilian took Shinji's hand and guided his fingers over the row of dots. The raised dots let him know how much of his medication was left. Mutio had said repeatedly that running out of medication was not the end of the world, but he felt it was best not to risk it.

"We could let it run down, Shinji. See what happens." She asked in a reassuring manner.

"I doubt I'm cured." He said flatly.

"But your probably better. At this point we could try alternative treatments. I really don't want you to wear an Emotional Suppressor longer than you have to." She said with concern in her voice.

To be honest Shinji didn't care if it was on him for the rest of his life. He didn't want to feel the horrible pain he felt inside, but he also did not want to worry the good doctor into thinking he'd become dependent. He was open to the idea of alternative treatments, but he knew that there were no conventional ones, just the Aquilians favorite thing to recommend to anyone on the road to recovery or trying to maintain their health.

"And if we drop the E.S. what do you recommend?" He said knowing the answer.

"Sex." She said seriously.

"I don't know why I ask any more." He stated.

"You seem to think I'm kidding, but I'm not. Sexual contact is good for the body. It produces physically pleasant sensations, relaxes the mind, eases stress, gives a person a sense of closeness, allows for..." Mutio began to ramble on.

Aquilians were known as the greatest doctors in all of the Cluster Worlds. Their bodies allowed them to consciously make themselves infertile or fertile. And with the cure to every known STD, it was understandable why sex was their favorite pass time.

Mutio went on to list the advantages of sex, but Shinji was only half listening. He wasn't interested in sex with anyone. Losing the women he cared for and watching all of humanity and Earth come to an end had killed his sex drive. If there was any interest remaining in him, the E.S. took care of it.

The only thing that occupied his mind at the moment was his next target, which unlike the other two, needed to be tracked down. He had been able to stay near Sirece, where his new home was, but that was out of luck. The men he was hunting were located all over the Cluster Worlds and were either in hiding, heavily protected, excellent fighters, or all three.

It was a long road and he just wanted to get to the next one. Shinji, with Mutio in tow, had passed through the habitat section, and into the control room. He seated him self in the pilot's chair as Mutio finished.

"...Giving one an improved sense of stability, which is why oral stimulation can be beneficial as well. Now do you understand?" She concluded her lecture hoping that this time he'd been convinced.

"Yes doctor. I'll think about it, but I think we should get on our way. I want to capture one more before we head in. If we head towards Neferice we might find information on~" Shinji started but was interrupted by Mutio.

"Actually, we have to head toward Hyneria." She said somewhat quietly.

"Why?" He asked.

He didn't have to ask that question. He already knew the answer to it. There were no targets, nor would there be any info on them there. There was only one thing on Hyneria that would give him cause to travel there. It needed to be fixed after all that it had been through and he had been expecting the call, just not so soon.

"Rygel sent word that they're done with the refit and...when your ready...so is Eva." She said monitoring Shinji's face for a response.

"...Doctor I've decided that I won't take an E.S. dose now, but when we reach Hyneria I know I'm going to need a full dose. Is that alright?" Shinji this time tried to sound stoic, but the tiniest hint of emotion still got through.

Mutio merely nodded and sat down in the co-pilot's seat next to Shinji, who didn't stay seated long. As soon as he entered the destination into the nav-computer, he left for his room in the habitat section. When he reached his small bedroom he sat on the simple mattress and looked out the window. Outside the ship quickly accelerated to Star Speed, and yellow lights were soon zipping past as the ship now traveled faster than the speed of light.

As he watch the activity outside his small widow, his hand drifted up to his chest and took hold of the small metal cross that he had been given on his last day on Earth. Given to him by someone he missed more than any other thing or person. His fingers moved the cross around in his hand, tracing every edge and corner of the object. Then, as if the cross were a two way communicator to her, Shinji spoke.

"Well Misato, it's been five months since I got here. Hard to believe all the things that have happened in that time. I hope you've been watching cause you wouldn't believe me if I told you all the stuff that I've been through." He said.

Then Shinji allowed his mind to wonder backwards in time. Five months backwards.

**To Be Continued.**

**Credits**

Shinji = _Neon Genesis Evangelion_

Mutio = _Blue Sub No. 6_

Dolim = _Star Trek: Enterprise_

Shresht = _Star Trek: Enterprise_

Rygel = _Farscape_

**Closing Notes**

Well here we go, To help the readers along I'm giving you a run though of some of the items and terms. A deleron is a humanoid looking mech type weapon. dygems are the currency of the cluster worlds, When you think of Shinji's robe, think of something that looks like the black robes in _Kingdom Hearts_ that the 13 bad guys wore. The E.S. kind of looks like the eye piece that 7 of 9 from _Star Trek: Voyager_ had. And lastly, The Flapjack is the ship featured in the show _Hypernauts_.

Thanks for reading. _Zidane Ace._


	2. Chapter 2

Author's_ notes:_ This chapter takes place five months earlier than the last chapter, (AKA, a flashback). The next few chapters will go over those five months, but may also flash-forward to where the prologue left off. After this part of the story, there will be more where the prologue left off.

**WARNING:** This fan-fic _will_ contain violence, language, adult themes, angst, names of made up alien people, items, worlds, etc and cameos from other anime and TV shows. It could also contain depictions of nudity and sex later on, so brace your self!

Disclaimer: Guess what? I own absolutely nothing contained in this fan-fic! Be it Eva or any other show I will give credit to.

_**Evangelion: The Death God War**_

**Chapter 2: The Last**

The Cluster Worlds form a crescent moon shape and are at a forty-five degree angle (if one views the Milky Way's disc shape on a level plain). Travelers have used this shape and angle to describe a planet's location. 'Dead center, Upper point, Inside center, etc.' Toward the lower point of the Cluster Worlds lies a small planet named Sirece. This planet is known for its abundance of liquid materia. This strange element is usually found in a gel like form on gas giants and it has multiple uses (very few of them military in nature). No one knows why so much materia can be found on Sirece, but many believe it is because Sirece orbits near two Neptune sized gas planets.

One would think that this would make Sirece a mining planet, however, materia is almost always transported, sold and used in its gel form. When it is not used in gel form, it is transformed into its fragile crystal form. Liquid materia has no market value and it is difficult to turn it into its gel form and even harder to change it into its crystal state. And, although Sirece orbits two materia rich planets, The center and upper worlds have multiple Jupiter sized gas planets, making it easier to get materia from them. Sirece has little else to offer. Its most notable feature is its large materia lake, where the capital city now resides.

Its sparkling and sometimes glowing surface would make for an excellent tourist attraction, if travel wasn't so dangerous. A few scientists have visited the lake because they believe that it holds many large secrets. How many secrets may never be known, as for large, one very large secret waits at the bottom of the lake. It sleeps, waiting to be woken after two million years of slumber.

* * *

Queen Eruru stared down at the city below her from the balcony. The sun had just set behind the mountain range off in the distance and the tiny lights of the buildings, far below her, were starting to appear. She looked off to the left where she could see part of the lake.

It had just begun to glow in the fading sun light and would remain in its mystic blue luminescent form until dawn the next day. Many of her people would be enjoying this relaxing and romantic view, believing that the war was far from their world and their minds.

But for the Queen, this would never be the case. Today was the latest in a long line of frightening days, where the thought of being re-conquered by the Death god empire was the most prominent thought in her mind. They had only had eight years to enjoy their freedom, a freedom the empire did not approve of. Eruru recalled being woken up very early in the morning, only to be told that an imperial battleship had come out of star-drive and was trying to enter orbit.

An hour later its captain started making threats and demands. 'Send up two dozen laborers and supplies or will open fire!' His total disregard for life terrified all who knew about the crisis. Thankfully two patrol ships from the rebellion stumbled across the ship and discovered it had been crippled. A few seconds of fighting ended the life of yet another threat to her world.

The crisis had ended without the public's knowledge, but had taken half the day to resolve and it had mentally exhausted Eruru. Looking out over the small city below, only reminded her as to how fragile their peace and freedom was. Her mind kept revolving around the issue of freedom, sacrifice and imminent doom until her thoughts were finally interrupted by a gentle hand on her shoulder. The sudden presents of the hand caused her to jump a bit, but she quickly regained her composure as she turned to face her guest.

Before her stood a taller woman with purple hair and a more well endowed body. This was her chief of security Major Motoko Kusanagi, often referred to simply as "Major". The cyborg woman stood there with a slight smile on her face, her artificial ears were shorter than most Sireceiens and are easily concealed in her hair. Motoko's tail waged ever so slightly as she spoke.

"So, you thinking about someone special? What's his name? Or is it _her_ name?" She asked.

Eruru's face turned a light shade of pink and her ears pointed out.

"N...no! I was just reflecting on today's events, that's all." The young woman replied in a fluster voice.

She never fully understood how the mind of Motoko Kusanagi worked. Sometimes she flirted with men, sometimes she flirted with women, other times she was completely emotionless and at other times vicious. But Motoko had always been kind to her. She had taken care of every major issue that had come along since the new government had been installed and today was no exception.

Motoko continued to stare at the young queen with a sly look until Eruru decided to change the subject.

"So are you here to talk about lovers, in which case I' d like to here about your men and women, or was there a particular reason you came?" The Queen asked with a raised eyebrow.

Deciding against discussing her sex life, Motoko, motioned her to follow as she spoke. "The Has-Mat team determined that there were no harmful substances in the cavern and cleared it four hours ago. I didn't want to tell you right away; you've been busy enough as is."

The Queen was grateful for her concern, but in reality she was looking forward to seeing the 'Giant of the Lake' as it had become known as. Geologists of their world had been studying the rock formations with their scanning equipment when the cavern and a humanoid shaped object appeared.

It had taken a month to get to the cavern and another week for the Has-Mat team to check it for something deadly. Despite the long wait someone else was even more excited about the Giant. The thought of the little girl made her curious as to her whereabouts.

"Where's Aruru?" She asked.

"Where else?" was the major's reply

Eruru could have guessed but sometimes there was no telling what was going on inside that girl's head. And the Giant was the center of her latest oddity. Eruru and Aruru were the only children of the last King and Queen of Sirece. Before their assassination, the two girls had been put in hiding.

Eruru had been eight at the time and Aruru was only one. Aruru had been quite most of her life, asked for very little and played alone in her room (if it could be called playing).

Then out of the blue she had a major request, one that was probably impossible to grant. She wanted an older brother. There was of course no way to giver her a biologically older brother but perhaps an adopted one. Eruru had told her to make a wish and pray for an older brother. This happened only two days before the discovery of the cavern. Somehow, in Aruru's mind, this was the brother she was looking for. She had never seen Aruru so active.

She seemed to be right behind the miners and Has-mat team every step of the way, waiting almost impatiently. To be honest, Eruru was a little was worried. She prayed there was something there to find and it would be something that would not crush the little girl's dream.

"This place is a mess! What's going on?" The Major's voice bellowed as several workers jumped to their feet.

"S-s-sorry Major. W-we've been having trouble with the main equipment elevator. It's...stuck...about half-way down." The mechanic stuttered.

The Major's voice didn't change as she got up to the worker. "Than get it un-stuck!"

Eruru left Motoko's side and headed for the small personnel elevator near by. The large room had been crowded with large containers, tools, and various other objects. All of them were on there way down, when the elevator decided to cease functioning. The door to the empty elevator opened and the Queen stepped inside.

"Hey! Wait up!" the Major had finished putting the fear of god into the worker and rushed to catch-up to the young woman. "You shouldn't leave your body guard behind."

"You shouldn't chew out poor little workers for every little thing." the smug woman replied as the doors closed.

The shaft went down three quarters of a mile and took nearly six minutes to reach the cavern. It had been a long time coming; to see the Giant of the Lake. One month, one week, half a day plus four hours and six minutes to be more accurate, but it had been worth the wait.

The elevator opened up to reveal a massive torso and head. The rest of the Giant was submerged in liquid materia. The work crew had set up a pier two feet off the materia, from the elevator, along side the right wall of the cavern, to a tech station on the left side of the Giant.

This is where most of the technicians and scientists were currently located, and were hard at work, trying to discern what the Giant actually was. As the two women walked past the exit to the equipment elevator, they partially over-heard the engineers grumbling and cursing at the broken machine.

"Those poor workers must have it really rough, huh." Eruru's pity was slightly lost on the more mature woman.

"What do mean? Engineers aren't happy unless they're fixing some kind of mechanical problem." the solider woman stated.

"Truer words were never spoken!" A jubilant voice replied.

It came from a scruffy looking man, with dark hair. He bowed as the Queen approached. "Greetings your Highness. Kojiro Murdoch is the name, working on cool machines is my game. And boy have we got a cool one here!"

Eruru smiled at the technician's enthusiasm, but wanted to get one issue resolved before forgetting.

"Before we get started, where is Princess Aruru?" Eruru asked nervously.

Kojiro pointed nonchalantly towards the Giant. "Over there."

Eruru found her sister, standing in a raft, floating right up against an orb like object that was protruding from the Giant's chest, and the ten year old girl was peering in hoping to see more of her 'big brother'. The party of three moved to the tech station only after both Motoko and Kojiro had calmed Eruru down and assured her that the Giant was half way in the back wall of the cavern, and would take an eight point nine earthquake to jolt it lose, and that it had no power left in it, so there was no way it was going to move and kill the young girl.

Walking up to the main computer, Kojiro punched up an overall status lay out of the Giant.

"As you can see, the power meter is under one to the first power. That's not even a fraction of enough to run these computers, let alone a deleron of this size." His report was followed by a shout from a distant voice.

"But I can still see a tine blue glow inside!" Aruru's hearing was quite amazing, even for their species.

"She's referring to the tiny amount of residual energy you can see in its power core, located in that orb there." Kojiro's casual demeanor did not completely pacify the Queen's concern as to how close her sister was to that core, but she let him continue.

"It looks like its been down here for about fifteen hundred years, possibly came from orbit, and may have even formed the lake above us. The only weapon it has is a spear of some kind, and that's mostly under 'water,' as it were, and partly buried. Other than that...there is only one small, tiny, insignificant, thing that is probably something you don't need to worry yourselves over...so I won't mention it." Kojiro finished abruptly.

Eruru looked over at the Major, who looked back at her, and then both women, who knew, something was up with the man, looked sternly back at him.

"No need to bother filtering information for us. Lets hear that little thing." The queen stated firmly

Kojiro tried to rebut. "Oh I don't mind filtering at all. See I can~"

"Spill It!" Motoko's voice snapped.

Kojiro said something, but it was a murmur.

"I'm sorry. What was that?" Eruru asked.

"It's a bioriod." Kojiro again spoke quietly.

"The microphone is off pal! Try projecting!" Motoko hissed.

"It's a bioriod." he finally let out.

The two ladies went silent. The young Queen was speechless from confusion, the security chef, with surprise and realization. The next few minutes were spent trying to describe a bioriod to to Eruru.

"So what your saying is, the machine we're looking at is made of flesh and not metal and wires?" The young Queen finally realized. It had taken several minutes just to explain that much to poor Eruru, who had a tough time trying to keep up with the regular 'techno-jargon'.

"Yes, but that's not the real problem." Kojiro confessed.

Motoko explained to the even more confused Queen. "The real problem is that there is one nation, above all others in the cluster worlds, that specialize in bioriods...The Hynerians."

Eruru groaned at the mention of the short, stubby, and greed life forms. She knew they were very good at industrial espionage and as soon as they found out about the Giant they would try and steal it.

"What's even worst is that Rygel will try every political tactic and dirty trick to get it." Eruru said looking out over the materia at her sister, who was still gazing into the massive orb, Motoko had been speaking in a hushed voice, to prevent Aruru from hearing them.

This was not a conversation the young princess needed to hear. But at this point, Eruru had to consider the rebellion that had liberated their world and how much they needed Hynerian support. All Rygel had to do was complain to Fuhrer Dermail and all hell would break lose.

If they lost what little support they had from the Rebellion, the Death God Empire would conquer them, then wipe out half the population of the planet as punishment for having left the Empire. The decision seemed clear.

"We may have to give it up to Hyneria." She hadn't realized she'd spoken in a normal voice until her sister chimed in.

"No! Never! Forget it! Big brother is staying right here!" She yelled.

Arguing with Aruru had been rare and had always ended with her backing down, but this time she was fiercely defending her opinion on the matter and refusing to listen to reason.

"If we don't give it to them they may simply take it!" The Queen spoke with an authoritative voice, at first.

"Then fight them!" Aruru yelled back.

"With their numbers, we can't win!" The older sister began to lose her cool.

"Then ask the Rebellion to stop them!" The girl said just as forceful as ever.

"The Rebellion will side with them!" She said sternly.

"Then say you'll go back to the Empire if they do!" Aruru yelled back.

"Are you crazy! They'll let it happen! Besides we need them!" Eruru finally lost her composure.

"What have they done for use recently?" The young girl asked angrily.

"Well...they...um...see they...uh..." The Queen stammered as she tried to recall something the rebellion had done for them, but nothing came to mind.

"See! Nothing! I win!" Aruru said with a huff.

The shouting match would have continued if Motoko hadn't interjected. She put her hand on Eruru's shoulder, to stop her from yelling then spoke to Aruru.

"Listen Aruru, it's not as simple as saying no to these people. If somebody has something they want, they take it no matter who they hurt. Don't worry though. We're not just going to let them take it." Motoko said, then turned back to Eruru, who was not as confident as her bodyguard.

"I want to keep it too, but we may not have the power to keep it." she said to Motoko, who looked over to the Giant then back at the Queen.

"Well think for a moment. Aruru is right. The Rebellion hasn't exactly been protecting us the way they said they would, and the Hynerians prefer to get things legally rather then by theft. Lets use this as a bargaining chip." the cyborg woman said calmly.

Eruru pondered her friend's suggestion. If they could keep the giant while the Hynerians were allowed to come and study it, that might keep Aruru happy. Plus if the giant was interesting enough, the Hynerians would demand that the Rebellion would protect Sirece while they were on the planet. A good plan in theory, there was just one thing that bothered Eruru.

"If we do actually negotiate with the Hynerians, we'll have to deal with Rygel directly...I hate Rygel." She said.

"He's not that bad is he?" Motoko snickered.

The young woman gave her an odd look, as if to say 'Are you serious?'

"Okay, he is that bad. But you'll only have to put up with him for a little while. Just don't hit him while he's here, that usually ends peaceful talks." Kusanagi said in a serious voice.

The Queen chuckled slightly at the joke, but she shuddered at the thought of dealing with Rygel.

"So gross. So arrogant." she said.

Kojiro decided to lighten the mood by pinching his nose and began imitating the leader. "_I'm Dominar Rygel the sixteenth, I'm a pain in the ass and I fart helium, bow to me all of you!_"

Eruru actually laughed at the impression and the Major managed a smile. A sudden cheer drew their attention to the elevators. The engineers that had been working on the equipment elevator the whole time, finally managed to get it moving. Most of them headed towards the tech station while one remained to examine it when it arrived.

"Well at least we'll get first crack at its secrets." Kojiro said as he made his way towards the elevator. "And if push comes to shove we could always~"

Kojiro was interrupted by the sound of a terrified worker being knocked into the water. The ruckus at the equipment elevator drew their attention next. What had attacked the worker was a Mammoth Rock Spider. It was easily the size of an elephant, its eight black eyes and its black and dark gray color added to its horrifying form.

The rest of the work crew ran to the tech station trying to find some cover. The one worker in the water was swimming away, but the rock spider seemed interested in him. It climbed part way up the side of the wall a scurried along on the side opposite that of the pier and tech station.

The Major was about to find away to tackle that one, when bigger problems showed up. From the large equipment elevator came another spider. This one was a black steel spider, and it wasn't alone. A Giant tree spider followed right behind it.

"Damn those Imperial bastards!" Motoko cursed.

None of these creatures were indigenous to Sirece and had to have come from deep with in the Empire's territory. They were powerful, they were strong, and they were smart. While the black steel came straight at the Major, the tree spider went up to the roof of the cavern and the rock spider remained at the back wall.

The small Sireceiens were trapped. Motoko, using her powerful cyborg body jumped on to the back of the black steel spider and began shooting. The bullets, however, bounced off its armored Thorax.

"Damn it." Motoko then started shooting its large unprotected abdomen.

This got its attention as it began bucking about trying to dislodge the Major. She managed to stay on, but was unable to continue shooting, and even if she could, the gun didn't have the power to destroy the vital organs buried deep inside. Motoko was about to try something different when a scream drew her thoughts away from her spider.

"MY GOD! Aruru!" Eruru cried when she regained sight of her small sister, who was now huddled down in the small boat.

When the chaos had broken out, she had tried to paddle back to the pier, but stopped in the middle of the small pond, huddled down and started murmuring something, when the other two spider came out of the elevator.

This left her unprotected and alone, a fact that the giant tree spider, hanging from the ceiling, had noticed. Being the most opportunistic of the three, it was now slowly sliding down a string of web towards the helpless girl.

'_Stop._'

"Aruru! Paddle for shore!" Eruru yelled.

'_No more._'

"Major! Quick get Aruru!" The Queen said as she tried to regain her composure.

"I can't! My prosthetic body will sink!" she replied.

'_Somebody do something._'

"Kojiro throw her a line!" the elder sister said desperately.

'_Hurry._'

Kojiro and the other technicians quickly tied a few wires and cables together. They threw it as hard as they could, but it was too short. The tree spider now loomed over her head as everyone on the pier desperately tried to add more length to their rescue line. The spiders jaw and fangs opened up ready to grab the small child. Nothing could stop the creature now. Eruru screamed, Motoko cursed, Kojiro tried to throw the line again, as the spiders hissed. Then suddenly...

'_ENOUGH!_'

_***CRUNCH***_

The entire cavern fell silent as blood slowly poured into the materia pond. The deep glowing blue liquid clashed with the bright red. The silences was matched with motionlessness, not even the spiders moved. The quiet, was slowly broken by a faint sound.

"...*****_whisper_*****...*****_whisper_*****...help me...help me big brother...Help me big brother!" Aruru chanted over and over again unaware of what had just happened.

"Aruru! P-paddle for shore!" Eruru finally managed to say.

Aruru now looked over at her sister and noticed the odd scene almost no one was moving, they seemed stunned, even frozen. They all appeared to be staring at her with a look of shock. Then something fell into the pond next to the boat. A leg, a spider's, still twitching, leg.

It quickly sank, but it made her realize that they weren't looking at her, but right above her. She slowly twisted her neck around to see. The massive hand still clenched the body of the spider, tightening its grip, causing another leg to snap off.

The giant's eyes were fixated on its own bloody hand, as if fascinated by what it had done. Then its eyes narrowed and a low growl could be heard from it as it turned its head toward the pier, and the black steel spider.

Black steel spiders are said to be the most intelligent of large breed spiders, so it was no surprise that this one realized that it was next. Motoko jumped off just in time, as the spider decided that climbing up the nearest wall was the best way to escape.

The Major ran towards the Queen and the work station, but a sudden jolt and a loud bang stopped her in her tracks. Looking behind her, found the massive arm of the Giant over head. The hand still clenching the remains of the tree spider, and its thumb pushed half way in the wall.

When it pulled its thumb out the black steel spider (or what was left of it) was still clinging to the wall. Its abdomen had been smashed into the cavern wall and was separated from the thorax.

It tried to move again, but its legs simply curled up in towards its body and it fell into the pond below. Motoko watched the remains of the spider sink until she heard a thrashing sound from the head of the Giant. The mammoth rock spider was trying to bite into it, and furiously.

The Giant's one free hand finally let go of the tree spiders corpse and batted at the rock spider. The rock spider on the other hand kept moving and biting all over its head and face. Its aggressive nature made it hard to catch. The spider then tried to attack the eyes.

The clear coverings for the eyes were giving way due to their age. The spider almost got through, when there was an ear splitting, eerie, moan like howl. The Giant had suddenly opened its mouth and roared.

The movement, combined with the roar's vibration, caused the spider to slip. It regained its footing, inside the Giant's mouth! Its teeth returned the spider's assault ten fold with a single bite. Then using its free hand, grabbed the part of the spider still sticking out of the mouth, and ripped it away. The Giant then spit out the spider's remains. After the pond settled from the chewed up spider being spat into it, the cavern once again fell silent.

Aruru looked up at the head, as it looked back at her. No one knew what it was about to do or what it was thinking. It just looked at the young princess. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the head of the Giant lurched forward and a long cylindrical object shoot out from behind it.

Motoko dove on the Queen, figuring it was a missile. The other technicians also ducked under the computer desks, but Aruru merely watched at the object bounced around the ceiling for a moment, then it dropped to the pond as its engine cut out. It splashed down near her and floated there. Her curiosity got the better of her and she began to paddle towards it.

"Sister! Get away from it, that thing could explode!" Eruru's plea went unanswered by her sister.

"I don't think it's actually a missile." Kojiro tried to reassure her, but Motoko had her own concerns.

"It could still be dangerous in other ways. Go swim out to her." Kojiro obeyed the command and dove in.

But Aruru had already reached the cylinder, and began to study it. At about the middle of the cylinder was a set of strange pictographs. She study them carefully. They depicted a humanoid grabbing two handles and twisting to reveal a second humanoid.

It took the young girl a second, but she immediately realized what it meant. Kojiro reached the raft at about the same time as the worker who had been thrown in during the spider attack. Kojiro lifted his body part way out of the water to look at the Princess. He found her using one of the paddles as a lever to turn the still scalding hot handles of the cylinder.

"What are you doing!" He asked, shocked that the girl was meddling with it.

"Big brother is inside. I have to get him out." she said as if that statement would make sense.

The mechanic was too worn out to try to understand what she was trying to tell him, so he simply made some excuse. "Why don't we wait for better tools? I doubt you'll get that open the way~"

But Aruru did get it open. The hatch popped out, then slid back, spilling a dark thick ooze, some of it in the boat. A small pile of the ooze collected in the raft, separating Aruru from Kojiro and the other worker. Kojiro looked at Aruru from his side of the raft, gently shook his head and spoke.

"Isn't this a pleasant mess. Well I guess we better~" again, Kojiro was prevented from making his suggestion.

A sudden yelp from the worker that was next to him cut his scolding short. Before he could ask what was wrong, the worker pointed at the black gooey mound. Training his eyes on the mass, Kojiro started to scrutinize the sludge, but it wasn't long before he realized the problem. It was moving!

From the pier, the Major tried to take aim with her hand gun, but the distance and the fact that the raft was crowded, made a shot impossible. Aruru stared for a moment, not sure what to make of the sight, when she heard the sound of coughing coming from the black substance.

She immediately reached out and grabbed the oozing mass, before anyone could protest, and pull a humanoid object from it. Being covered with blood from the spider, Aruru no longer worried about being messy, but getting the sludge off of this person was a different story.

Finding a patch of materia not filled with spider's blood, the young girl cupped her hands, dipped them in and then preceded to clean off the face of the cylinder' occupant. A very human face was presented to her. Its eyes tightly closed, at first, slowly opened and began scanning its surroundings.

"Damn!" Kojiro stated as the scene before him continued to unfold.

It was just a kid, at least it appeared to one. The forty year old mechanic was about to ask for instructions from the Major or the Queen, when the 'being' began to shiver in Aruru's arms.

"Hey! I think it needs medical attention!" the princess shouted.

The two women on the pier looked to each other then the Major looked out at Kojiro and nodded. Pulling the other worker in to the raft and handed him a paddle as Aruru held the life form in her arms like a mother holding a child. After the men started paddling, she looked down at him and they made eye contact.

She placed one hand on her chest and simply said "Aruru."

The creature merely looked at her.

"Aruru." she repeated.

It finally understood. It reached up, put its own hand on its chest and was about to speak, but stopped. It looked as if it could not remember its own name, with its eyes looking down and his lips moving ever so slightly. A moment later, however, it looked up at her again.

"Shinji." he said.

Then, other memories flooded his mind as he began to remember who he was and what had happened. As the raft slowly approached the pier, a crowd of onlookers gathered around the Queen and the Major. A din of noise quickly followed and the Major began barking orders. 'Call for two security teams. Get the medics. Start making repairs.' The din had become controlled chaos as every one worked to fill out the cyborg's orders.

It had become so loud that only Aruru could hear the faint sounds of soft crying coming from Shinji. She slowly stroked the side of his head and refused to leave his side even as the medics came to take him to a hospital. Eruru looked out over the liquid materia at the giant, the floating blood, the remains of the spiders, and spoke out loud.

"What have we done?" She said exasperated.

What the Sireceiens had done was succeed in reviving the last of kind.

**To Be Continued.**

**Credits**

Shinji = _Neon Genesis Evangelion_

Eruru + Aruru = _Utawarerumono_

Major Motoko Kusanagi = _Ghost in the Shell S.A.C._

Kojiro Murdoch = _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED_

Fuhrer/Duke Dermail = _Gundam Wing_

Rygel = _Farscape_

**Closing Notes**

The next episode may be a little boring, it is important to the story line. Hang in there!

Thanks for reading. _Zidane Ace._


	3. Chapter 3

**WARNING:** This fan-fic _will_ contain violence, language, adult themes, angst, names of made up alien people, items, worlds, etc and cameos from other anime and TV shows. It could also contain depictions of nudity and sex later on, so brace yourself!

Disclaimer: Guess what?! I own absolutely nothing contained in this fan-fic! Be it Eva or any other show I will give credit to.

_**Evangelion: The Death God War**_

**Chapter 3:Ceiling**

Among the many species of the Cluster Worlds are several variations of the Hue (often referred to as "Hue like"). In fact they make up roughly 70% of the creatures which call this part of the galaxy home. The other 30% consist of species that have some Hue DNA but are mostly another creature (like the Sireceiens) while others have little or no Hue DNA at all (like the Hynerians or the Xindi). The Hue are not indigenous to the Cluster Worlds, but arrived during a time called "The Calamity." The Calamity is a period of time long before any written history on any world and so little is known about the Hue other than what they look like. To describe what they look like is easy, merely find the latest entry on the list of "known Hue types" marked 'Homo Sapiens' or Humans. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Damn. How could anyone operate under these conditions?"

Kojiro cursed as he tried to fit in to the pilot seat of the entry plug. It had been designed for someone the size of a fourteen year old, not a forty year old man with a furry tail. The technicians long fuzzy white and brown tipped ears were bent down. The other workers had cleaned out the sludge that had filled the entry plug, but a pungent odor still filled the interior. Kojiro was about to call it a day when a woman's voice stopped him.

"So, running on home with your tail tucked between your legs, Murdock?"

Motoko Kusanagi was her usual patronizing self. She had a small, sly smile on her face, as she observed the technician struggling with the small seat and controls. She had approached unnoticed and was now leaning against the open hatch looking in. The tall dark haired, buxom woman easily intimidated and/or aroused men left and right. She could give you a look that could turn you so far on, that frozen water wouldn't be enough to cool you off or she could give you a death stare that made you pee your pants. Mercifully, the Major was only in a teasing mood. The ageing tech had no time to be dealing with either of the Major's looks.

"Hey, I'd like to see you work your way through this ancient piece of junk!" Kojiro said, out of the side of his mouth.

"Sure! Just find me a place to plug in." She retorted, knowing full well that the controls of the cockpit were far too manual and had no place for a cybernetic link up.

The Major looked up and down the inside of the missile shaped entry plug. She was moderately impressed with the fact that nearly the entire inside surface of the plug was a view screen, which gave the pilot excellent visibility, but was surprised at the rather unsophisticated looking controls. One of the mechanical control handles appeared to be jammed, something that was unheard of with magnetic-crystal materia control hook up. And further more, aside from the hand and foot controls their seemed to be nothing else.

"You wouldn't think that this could control a bio-mechanoid just by looking at it." She thought aloud.

"Tell me about it. Some parts of this thing seem centuries ahead of anyone's tech, while others look like their from the stone age. Hell, considering how old it is, I'm surprised that the whole thing isn't made of rock and wood." said Kojiro.

Motoko turned her attention to Kojiro with curiosity. "How old is it?"

The forty year old forced his body to bend and shuffle his way out of the entry plug and make his way to the near by computer station. The 36' by 36' main monitor showed a diagram of the giant mech in black and white. Kojiro punched a few buttons on a key board and the screen magnified an section of the diagram. The monitor now displayed a portion of armor, along with several charts and statistical data. Motoko gave Kojiro a look, as if to say '_Am I suppose to know what this means?_'

"It's damn well over two million years old!" He said without looking at the Major.

"That can't be right!" Motoko was now looking over the charts and data trying to make sense of them. She may not have been an engineer, but she wasn't totally at a loss for reading into the mathematics. However, before she could make sense of any of it, Kojiro interjected.

"You see how the metal is colored dark gray? It used to be purple. The particles used on the metal to change its color has a decay rate measured by the computer. According to the computer the particles haven't refreshed in just over two million years." Kojiro finished and then looked to the Major.

She had managed to follow along, but her question now was "Where the hell did this thing come from?"

"You'll have to ask that kid." Kojiro replied

"I don't think he wants to talk about it." Motoko's voice trailed off at the end. Just enough for the middle aged man to pick up on it.

"So then, the rumors are true?" Kojiro asked cautiously.

The rumors being that the boy had tried to kill himself not once but twice and would have succeeded, had he not already been in the Palace infirmary. The first incident involved a sonic scalpel, left haphazardly near his bed, that he put to his throat, fortunately a nurse stopped him before he figured out how to turn it on. The second time he grabbed a hand full of pill and swallowed them before anyone noticed, had his doctor not seen the drop in his vitals quickly enough, his lungs surly would have collapsed. Motoko sighed after she had thought through the sequence of events.

"If Aruru is with him he seems calm enough, like he doesn't want her to see. Thank God no one has told her about this yet." Motoko thought aloud.

"So what about that Aquilian doctor? You know, the one that's suppose to be good with Hue type species. Is she coming? He is a Hue like isn't he?" Kojiro asked hoping that the one person who could tell him about this monstrosity sitting in his lap wouldn't die without saying a word.

"Yes he is Hue like and yes she is coming, but damn she's taking her sweet time getting here! If she takes to long he'll die of old..." The Major stopped amid sentence and took on a nearly blank face. Murdock had seen this before. Kusanagi's cybernetic implants allowed her to receive messages directly to her brain. He wasn't sure he would ever feel comfortable having a voice in his head but the Major seemed to handle it just fine.

Before long, however, the Major let out a long sigh. Kojiro knew something was wrong. "What's up?" he asked. All Kusanagi did to respond to the question was hold up three fingers. Kojiro opened his mouth as to enquire as to what she meant, but closed it as he figured out the meaning on his own. 'Suicide attempt number three.'

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"How the Hell did he loosen these I.V. tubes!?" a doctor yelled over the chaos in the infirmary as both the doctors and nurses scrambled to undo the damage that their patient had inflicted upon himself. The medication had become necessary to repair the damage done to his lungs and keep him from slipping into a coma. The Major arrived in record time, but she could have taken all day since there was very little she could do to help the process, instead she decided to lean up against the wall away from all of the chaos. Shinji thrashed about from side to side to get loose from the doctors and nurses screaming "Just let go of me...just let go!" Major shook her head at the site thinking 'If this keeps up he really will be gone' the doctor was just about ready to inject a large sedative when a voice rang out.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

The entire room's attention turned towards the doorway in it stood a five foot tall girl in a strange rubbery suit her face, which had a scowl on it, was pale which clashed with her bright glowing red eyes, and her hair was odd as well it was silver except towards the top which became white with a black diamond shape at about her forehead. She was clearly an Aquilian. Immediately she pushed past the doctors and nurses to the thrashing boy. She then preceded to take a cylindrical object from a bag which hung from her waist and pressed the object against the boy's neck. The head doctor who was holding the syringe with the sedative nearly flew into a panic "Wait what did you just give him?! Do you know he's on serious medication?! The wrong mixture could kill him!!" The Aquilian cocked her head, looked at the doctor and said "He is a fourteen to sixteen year old hue like who is currently sobadall-623 for his lungs correct?" the doctor nodded slightly "Good then the Goddessen lozenge should knock him out very quickly." said the female Aquilian the doctor was about to protest but the boy suddenly stopped thrashing.

Before long his breathing had steadied and quieted. It was clear he was slipping into an unconscious state which allowed the doctors to replace all of his I.V. tubes. The head doctor turned to the small woman "Well thank you for coming along, I am...." he was immediately interrupted by the small woman who said "You are leaving!"

"This is MY patient!" said the doctor

"Not anymore!" said the Aquilian

"Just who the hell do you think you are?!" retorted the doctor

"I think I'm Mutio." replied the Aquilian

The whole room fell silent as they looked at the girl, Motoko raised an eyebrow 'So that's the great Aquilian doctor...Neat trick using the drug cocktail rather than relying on the standard meds.' Mutio looked about the room and said to everyone in the room "I want you all out!" she said in a serious forceful voice. Everyone hesitated for a moment but quickly obeyed the orders before a minute had passed, the whole room was empty except for Shinji, Mutio, and of course the Major. "When I said I wanted all of you out I was including you too." said Mutio. The major smiled slightly and said "I out rank you, doctor I'm here as the boy's security." "Then you should have shot those so called doctors they have no idea how to treat a patient in a mentally weakened state." Mutio said as she turned back to Shinji.

Neither woman said anything to each other as Dr. Mutio went over all of the boy's stats. The Major had been in enough hospitals, sometimes as a patient, to know that the screens all indicated that Shinji was weak but stabilizing. Of course the real damage and reason for Mutio's presents couldn't be gauged on a screen. "I'm going to have to leave the room at some point, aren't I?" Motoko concluded, knowing that the boy and female Aquilian would need to talk in privet about the boy's inner troubles. 'Troubles...heh' she thought, being late to work or missing lunch, those were troubles. Who knew what horrors were deep in the boy's memories, whatever they were, to him it was enough to merit suicide.

"You can stay for a little while. When he regains conciseness it would help to have a pretty face to look at." Mutio said this without really turning to the Major, suggesting to her that she actually thought she was attractive. "Why doctor, I didn't know you thought like that!" Motoko said in a suggestive voice. To her surprise, however, Mutio turned her head toward her. Her face sported a deep warm and inviting smile. 'Uh-oh, she really does think like that.' Not that the Major really minded.

The conversation would have continued to turn in that direction had Shinji not begun to stir. "Well, here we go." said Mutio looking at Shinji. She then looked back at the Major to say "This won't be pretty. Be glad you'll leave the room before the really bad stuff." Motoko had seen into the eyes of men who lost their humanity and she had no desire to see it again, least of all in a boy who had yet to be a man.

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Aruru skipped down the hallway towards her new brother's room, clutching something in her right had. Shinji had tried to search for it franticly before he was taken to the palace hospital, but couldn't find it and he feared it was lost. From what Aruru gathered from her brother's rambling, it had been a gift from a friend. She was glad she found it in the raft, if it had been in the cylinder like cockpit it probably would have been thrown out. Before long she found her brother's room with Major Kusanagi and some non-hue type species she had never seen before. She approached the Major and looked up to her. The woman's face, however, sported a serious expression.

"Major, can I see my brother?" asked Aruru, who expected an immediate response, but the Major remained in serious contemplation.

"Major?" Aruru asked this time wondering what was wrong. Before she could query a third time, Mutio stepped in. "May I ask who you are?" she said in her politest tone. This act cause the Major to snap out of her haze and back to reality. "Huh? Oh! Doctor Mutio this is Princess Aruru, sister to the Queen." Mutio in response to this did her best to bow in her bulky suit. In turn Aruru did her best to curtsy. Motoko might have found the exchange cute if she hadn't been so preoccupied. "Doctor, is my brother awake? Can I see him?" Aruru asked Mutio this time in the hopes of a strait response, but it was still delayed. "Your brother? You mean Shinji?" queried Mutio "Yes. I forgot to mention that he's been adopted by the royal family." Motoko interjected.

"You could have said something...Wait does he even know he's been adopted?!" Mutio wondered intently

"Sort of. He knows Aruru and her sister have taken him in. He probably has no clue about their nobility." Kusanagi had said this in such a matter of fact tone that in nearly floored the Aquilian

"I think that that is important information! Knowing this can help his therapeutic..." The doctor was abruptly cut off in her 'good for therapy' speech and 'need for openness' demands by a load and slightly squeaky voice. "CAN I SEE HIM NOW!" the small princess had determined she had been patient enough and concluded that a rude little girl would be more effective than a polite little debutant. And in this case she was right, as Doctor Mutio gestured toward the small recovery room. "Oh, yes of course! Go on in, but don't get him to excited he still needs to rest." Returning to her graceful side she again curtsied and skipped into the room. Motoko and Mutio looked at each other and shared a brief smile at the oddity that was Aruru.

Shinji might have found it amusing at one point to find that, unfamiliar ceilings were so common place in his life that the very instance itself was familiar, but to much had happened this time. This had been no simple up-rooting. Anything from his past, save the Unit-01, had been lost. All he had were memories of what was and the last few days of them were particularly horrible. The images began to play in his mind, the bodies of N.E.R.V workers in the hallways, ruined buildings, the mutilated Unit-02,...Misato forcing herself to smile as she began to bleed out from her gun shot wound. He had tried to leave out most of these details from the strange alien doctor, but she was clearly adept at getting details from people. No doubt she was some kind of physiatrist, but to him, it was useless. He was a mass murder, no a genocidal sociopath. How many people had died on that day? A hundred billion? Two hundred billion? In many cultures they executed someone for killing just one other, and now he was to be spared? How could some who had done what he had be allowed to exist? The images began to play again, fortunately they were soon interrupted.

"How are you feeling big brother?" the little voice drew Shinji away from his painful thoughts and caused him to focus on his 'little sister'. He still didn't understand how that had happened, but didn't mind playing along. "Still a little tired, but I'm feeling much better, Aruru." Shinji half lied as he new he had caused his own recent round of ill-being. On the other hand he did not feel all that bad, with the new treatment he was on he did feel better than he had a few hours ago. "Well I brought you something to cheer you up! I found it in the raft, it probably came out with you." Aruru opened her hand as she spoke revealing a small stainless steel cross that had seen better days, with its small dings and scrapes. "Here put it on!" Aruru hopped up on the bed and put the thin leather strap, that held the cross, around his neck. Shinji looked down at the only thing Misato had given him and recalled his last image of her... 'That was an adult kiss...will do the rest when you come back okay?' a promise they both knew she couldn't keep. He could still taste and feel her blood on his lips, the thought made Shinji want to cry. "It looks good on you brother." Aruru kept the mood light with her bright personality. " I'm glad you think so...I..." Shinji tried to keep his tears back but felt himself slip. He quickly put his arms around the girl, and hugged her so she couldn't see the tears. "Thank you, I really missed this." Shinji had managed to say this without choking, but Aruru could feel the tears on the side of her cheek. "It's alright big brother. I'm going to look after you. your safe here with me." the small girl put her arms around to the boy's back and stroked.

"She's not going to like this." Motoko spoke to the doctor as she watch the touching scene inside. "I can explain it to the little girl. I'm good with children." Mutio tried to reassure the warrior cyborg, but had misunderstood her concern so the Major elaborated "It's not the Princess, it's the Queen. She's the one that has to approve this operation. She's seen it used and I tell you she won't like it." this information did not change Mutio's opinion. "It's his only chance of getting through this." she said as she and the Major headed for the elevator and then on to the thrown room. As the elevator doors closed the Major cautioned her medical friend saying "That just means she's gonna hate it even more."

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"You can't be serious!" Eruru had lost her composure rapidly at the very mention of the procedure, but Mutio was resolute in her stance "An emotional suppressor is the only way we can bring him out of his suicidal state safely." The young queen however was equally as resolute "And I tell you that E.S.s don't just suppress emotions, they obliterate them! Soldiers, workers, my...my mother! The list of those I've seen lose themselves to those things became too long at first person I saw, why must you add another?" Motoko was in the thrown room trying to stay out of the argument, but Eruru's pacing in front of her thrown made her nervous and the fact that Mutio was being as equally as stubborn as the Queen did not make her feel any better. "If he isn't treated in this manor he will kill himself or self-destruct in some other manor! You can not allow this." Eruru sat back down in her thrown as she said with a scathing tone "Why don't you just give him a lobotomy." the Aquilian's counter was just as fierce "That would be more helpful than doing nothing!" Eruru shot her a look of death, but the doctor refused to back down.

"Look, imagine you watch not only the violent and gruesome deaths of all of your friends, but also the extinction of your entire species. Now pretend that you were forced to participate in that action which killed off billions of lives and that you believe you are the one solely responsible. And finally picture all of this happening two million years ago, tens of thousands of light years away. Sound like something you could handle?" Eruru did not have an immediate response for her so she continued "I can't imagine how hard it will be for you and your sister to go through this, but can you imagine how hard it will be for you if you just let him go? Please endure this. Allow him to endure this and a day will come when he will no longer need that restraint." Eruru felt the last of fight in her leave. She had known from the beginning that this would be his fate, but still wished to fight the unbeatable, for whatever the reason. She looked Mutio in the eye to speak, but lost the nerve to do so. In stead she turned her head as she weakly nodded and Mutio left without another word.

After she was gone, Eruru got up and turned away from Motoko to stare blankly at one of the royal tapestries mounted on the wall. "What have I condemned that boy to? What have I done to Aruru? What...am I..." the queen tried to finish, but covered her mouth with one hand and remained silent afterward. Motoko came up behind her and put her arms around the troubled young woman and held her as she slowly swayed back and fourth. Almost as two lovers might do when one was hurt.

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Aruru waited outside the room for her brother to finish changing. She had had to wait a full week after the operation to take her brother out of the hospital and to go see the city and now that the time was fast approaching she found she could not sit still. The buxom major however, could wait all day watching the small girl lightly bounce up and down. Kusanagi knew she had little chance of calming the child but tried anyway "Steady, he should still take it easy so it'll be a minute or two." Aruru looked back at her and said "I know but I don't like it here. I know Shinji doesn't like it here ether...no offence doctor." Mutio was over by a work table preparing a medicine injector for Shinji's E.S. as She did not expect him to be back at the palace until later in the day "No offence at all. The best part of coming here is the departure." the Aquilian knew that Shinji, in fact, hated hospitals because of how many trips he'd been force to take. She hoped this would be his final major stay before the removal of his E.S., whenever that was.

The door's mechanical components made a sound that drew everyone's attention toward the it, as it slid open. Shinji emerged in the outfit the Aruru had picked out for him. He had grey and black tennis shoes with red laces. His pants were a baggy, light grey, thick denim until they reach his upper thighs where they became a dark olive green. He wore a black sleeveless zip up shirt with a white short sleeve over jacket with a red lining. Misato's cross hung part way down his chest and his face now had a small metal strip just above his left eye which covered his eyebrow and came part way down the left side of his eye socket.

Shinji was blanked faced as he looked at everyone and spoke "Does this look alright?" Aruru was almost bouncing up to the ceiling with excitement "Oh, yes yes yes! Lets go, it's already mid-day!" Aruru grabbed her adopted brother's hand and began to pull, when she was sopped by Mutio "Now hold on." Aruru began to bounce in place again, but Mutio ignored her as she gave Shinji the medicine injector "Now Shinji, keep this in your pocket and wait till your down to about one or two dots on your E.S. indicator, not before and don't let it slip beneath one. Okay?" Shinji nodded and looked down at the girl still holding his hand. She was looking up at everyone with an 'Are we ready NOW!' look. "Alright now you may go." Mutio said as she stepped aside. Aruru gently pulled Shinji along as they made for the elevator that would lead them down to the ground floor and to the exit. As they approached the door, they passed a large hallway mirror and, for the first time, Shinji saw his face since the E.S. went on.

"I look like Rei." Shinji thought aloud. "Who's Rei?" Aruru said as they entered the elevator. Shinji managed a smile as he looked down at the girl and said "A friend from long ago." The doors closed quickly behind them. Motoko had seen the exchange and was surprised by something "He just smiled! I thought his emotions were suppose to be suppressed?" Mutio shook her head as she spoke "Smiling is not a emotion. He's faking a smile for her benefit. He told me he was good at that...looks like its true." Mutio looked at the closed doors of the elevator before continuing "It's sad that he seems good at it since it means he's had to force fake smiles before, but it will help in the long run." but as Motoko walked away, to follow the young duo, she thought to herself 'At least I hope so.'

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Shinji squinted some as he walked through the doorway and out into the light. It helped that there seemed to be some kind of strange cloud cover hanging directly over what Shinji could see of the city. The Palace and all of it's facilities seemed to have been carved into the insides of some large cliff face which rounded out of Shinji's sight on both his left and right. He looked up briefly but could not see the top clearly because of his close proximity to the rock face and his still adjusting eyesight. The city itself had been put on some hilly and rocky terrain that surrounded the cliff. There were several large buildings that were nestled in the valleys of the rocky hills and the tops and sides of the rocky hills had houses carved into them He could also see a network of tram rails and walking paths which weaved their way through it all. And far off in the distance, several miles to be sure, was the top of a wall that seemed to encircled the city. Beyond the wall were large plains and grasslands that extended to the curvature of the planet. "Come on Shinji the tram is pulling in." Aruru ushered him toward a string of oval shaped tram cars that had just come in on one of the rails. Shinji wanted to follow, but was worried about traveling alone without an escort. He had learned only yesterday that his to new 'sisters' were royalty and the thought of something happening to one of them while they were alone in his presence made him cautious, if he didn't have his E.S. he would have been nervous as well. "Shouldn't we wait for Major Kusanagi? She is your bodyguard after all."

A voice from behind him cause the young boy to jump slightly "Don't worry. You two can't lose me. And besides there aren't too many people on Sirece who dislike the Royal family... let alone hate them...to say nothing of wanting to cause them any type of harm." Motoko had reassured Shinji of her ability to appear out of nowhere, but was a little to close to him for his comfort. Still the knowledge that protection was nearby allowed Shinji to follow Aruru toward the tram. As they entered the glass roof and walled tram, which gave the riders an impressive view of the outside, Shinji noticed that the inside was not unpleasant to look at either. It had red carpet and nicely cushioned seats, both along the walls and a center island of seats. Aruru went around to the other side of the island of seats to sit facing out toward the city. Shinji followed. However before sitting down he looked to see that the Major was not boarding the tram. He began to speak, but the Major cut him off "Don't worry even if you can't see me I'll be looking out for you!" With that the doors closed and the tram began to move, leaving the woman behind.

Shinji sat down next to Aruru and began to wonder about the security of the Sireceiens. 'Suppose there was an assassin on the tram?...Well I guess since the tram is empty it's not really a problem...But what if there's a bomb on the rails or in one of the cars?...I guess you can't do much about it from inside the tram...What if I turn out to be a murderer?...Maybe I shouldn't bring that one up when I meet her next.' His thoughts were interrupted by his small traveling companion. "So what do you think of Floating Tree Nation?" Shinji looked down at the inquisitive girl in some confusion "Floating Tree Na..? Oh! The name of your country. Yes it's very beautiful." Aruru looked pleased to hear this, but Shinji was still a little confused "Why is it called _Floating Tree_ Nation?" he was quick to get a response that didn't help much "Because the Tree looks like it's floating." Aruru chirped. Shinji was still lost "Which tree?" The Princess spun around onto her knees and pointed out to the other side of the tram. There were a few trees, but none appeared to be floating. "Which tree again?" Shinji repeated "The really big one." Aruru giggled. He looked out at all of the trees but again none of them seemed to be floating or particularly big. "I guess I'm just not seeing it." Shinji said as he began to sit back down. "How can you miss it? We just came from there!" Shinji thought about what Aruru had just said for a moment then in a flash of realization looked back toward the cliffs.

As his eyes focused on the cliff face Shinji noticed that the cracks and crevasses on the face resembled bark. Traveling up even further the cliff met up with the bizarre looking clouds which resembled leaves rather then clouds. And where the two met, parts of the cliff branched out like...branches. What Shinji was seeing was not a cliff, but an enormous tree several miles high by several miles wide. He then realized that the rocky hills that had been carved into to make houses and small buildings were the gargantuan roots of the tree. "Well that explains the 'Tree' part of the name." Shinji said astonished by the sight. He looked back at Aruru "How is it a 'Floating' tree?" She looked out at the tree, then back at Shinji "I guess you can't see it yet, but when we get to Floating Tree View you'll see why." A little while later the tram made a gradual right turn into a tunnel and into a station.

A few people got on the tram as Shinji and Aruru exited. They were soon walking down a short corridor that lead to natural light at the end. Soon they were once again bathed in sun light. Shinji looked out towards the massive tree. There was now a large blue lake which spanned from the edge of the tree to a few feet away from where they were standing. As he observed where the tree met the water like substance, he could see the roots of the tree as they traveled, what looked like at least a mile down. Other tree roots enclosed the odd looking lake in a ring, completing the visual effect. The tree did appeared as if it were floating on the surface of the water. "See?" Aruru said proudly. Shinji only nodded as he tried to feel something at the sight, but, although he felt some amazement at the sight, he felt little else. He then remembered why he could feel nothing and reached up to his forehead. One dot was slipping in but not completely gone the rest were out. "Let's keep walking." Aruru said, seeing Shinji touch his E.S.

The street was mostly deserted only a few couples and individuals dotted the walkway over looking the lake to their left. To their right were several closed shops and behind them appeared to be rides. "Is that some sort of amusement park? Why is it closed?" a somewhat sad looked passed over the girl's face "Not too many people come here any more. The people of this city alone can't attend everyday and people else where both on our world and others don't travel much because of the war." War. The word conjure so many meanings for Shinji that he was just as ready as Aruru was for subject change. "That's not water is it? I mean it looks like its glowing." The boy's question worked as intended and his small companion came out of her saddened state. "It is glowing, but it's not water. It's liquid materia. You know, the same stuff that was in the cave you were in." the thought of the dank cave where Eva rested, hopefully forever, returned to his mind. There had been an ethereal glow to the place but he hadn't thought about it much. "I see. Are there fish in there?" the little girl's smile broadened. "Follow me and you'll see."

The duo so arrived at a stylish building that hung out over the materia. Aruru lead Shinji through the glass doors and up the short flight of steps. At the top was a dining room which was mostly deserted, much like the street outside. The host spotted them and walked over. "Welcome your highness and to your handsome escort. Where would you like to be seated?" the young girl smiled up at Shinji, shyly. The thought of him being considered an escort was a little embarrassing, but she did like the thought. "Out over the 'bowl' please." Aruru said having already picked a spot before entering. The host nodded and lead the two out toward an open air deck facing the lake and tree. The floor of the deck, which was a hardened see through glass, sat level with the surface of the water, But hung in mid air. The deck was encircled by a glass 'bowl' which sat in the water separating the materia from the deck and allowing the occupants of the restaurant to look down in any direction and see the life-forms which inhabited the materia. None of the creatures looked too much like a traditional fish as most of them seemed to be able to propel themselves through the water without moving their tails. "Oh good! The big one is back today!" Said the host looking down at the bowl. About midway down the bowl, a large jelly fish like creature came into view. It was easily twenty yards in length and sported glowing neon red, green, purple, and white lights.

The scene was awe inspiring as the two were seated at about the middle of the deck. Shinji pulled out the first chair for Aruru and allowed her to sit. As he moved to left of her to take his seat he surveyed the rest of the restaurant. It was not as deserted as he had previously thought. Looking back from his new angle, he could see several well concealed round booths that offered a great deal of privacy. Roughly half of them were occupied by couples who were content on sharing a small intimate moment. With one exception. Of all the booths, there was one which contained a single occupant, who rather than move to one side of the booth to be as concealed as possible, the extremely attractive woman sat in the center of the round booth. But, Shinji's first thought was not 'Why is that beautiful woman sitting alone?' instead it was 'How the hell did she beat us here?!' As the Major made eye contact with Shinji she gave him a sly smile and waved. Shinji cocked his head ever so slightly and then preceded to sit down. 'Nice to know someone could have given the N.E.R.V. security division a run for it's money.' He thought.

Aruru had been looking at a small menu, but had yet to decide on anything. She looked to her brother as he now skimmed the short menu list. It contained just two alcoholic and four non-alcoholic. The food list was equally as short at just seven items altogether. "I know, not a whole lot. It's because...like the amusement park." Aruru managed to keep an up beat tone in her voice. Shinji only nodded as he weighed his choices, but ultimately was at a loss for what to choose. The names, although were legible thanks to the new translating bio-implants, they were still, quite literally, alien to him. "I'll let you pick. I want to try everything and I'd rather be surprised than spend an hour deciding." The boy's request seemed to make the girl happy as she turned to the waiting host and ordered two 'leaveo' fruit drinks and the fruit plate. The host, with the order in hand, walked away quickly without another word.

Shinji's view was filled with an extraordinary sight, as he gazed out toward the tree; he could see the midday sun beginning to sink to the left of it. As his gaze traveled down the trunk he could see the small sparkles of little lights that dotted it; windows of the palace where the lights were turned on. Continuing downward to where the trunk met the materia, his view was only blocked ever so slightly by small sailing vessels that moved lazily across the surface. Below the surface he could see the tremendous main root travel deeper and deeper into the depth of the strange liquid until his view was obscured by the monstrous sized jelly fish that swam back and forth along the outside of the bowl; looking for an opening, wondering what it was, or perhaps observing the restaurant's occupants as they observed it. The former Eva pilot could feel only the smallest sensation of awe at the scene, but appreciated it all the same. A slight, but sudden pressure on his right shoulder drew his attention. He found Aruru's head now resting there, watching the same scene as him. "Isn't it wonderful like this? Don't you wish that everyday was like this?" The girl had asked a simple question, but had caused Shinji to consider it fully. 'If I could live out my life...out of the way...I could manage...Can I manage that? Can I just keep from battle just until my life ends? Can I be allowed to do so?' the boy's thoughts were deep, to say the least, but his answer was as simple as the question. "Mmm-hmm" was his only response as he began to pet the small girl's head.

Sadly, a fate more violent was being prepared elsewhere for the troubled youth.

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The planet Sirece seemed small even in the old man's special telescope, but he could see it clearly. He didn't need to see it at all, but being stuck in large life support apparatus made it hard to do anything other than look. 'The final preparation should be complete by now.' the old man thought. 'I wonder if he took the news well? Can't imagine a man like that being too happy about...' his inquisitive thought was suddenly answered and interrupted at the same time. "DORNKIRK!" The bellowing had come from a bare chested, muscular man. His light grey skin was adorned with blood red tattoos. His head was completely hairless except for a goatee. And he had a deadly stare made even more menacing with the scar over his right eye. "Why am I the one to attack a miserably worthless planet!? It has no strategic or tactical value at all! I am more useful at the front! And those things you've given me Can't be called solders! They..." his ranting was cut short by Emperor Dornkirk's voice being projected over loud speakers. "That is enough Kratos! The Empire has given us both our orders! Do not forget the oath you swore on that day...you remember how you pleaded for your life don't you?" the mention of the day he was nearly killed by an unknown hoard, only to be saved by the one of the Death Gods, caused Kratos' blood to boil, but he kept quiet.

Knowing Kratos was now under control, Dornkirk look back into the small view finder to gaze upon the small world once more as he spoke "If you prove yourself here you will be entrusted with better trained warriors and more strategically vital mission. Now get to your vessel, the operation is time sensitive." With only a small growl, the Spartan began to storm toward the door, but was stopped by the Emperor's final command "Oh! And Kratos...no need to show any mercy toward civilians caught in the crossfire...in fact, the greater the death toll the better." Kratos remained motionless for a moment, but than continued out the door. Dornkirk smiled inwardly as he mused "Ah poor Kratos...perhaps he will find some great warrior there for him to do battle with...but I doubt it." As the little green and blue world fell behind it's sun and out of his line of sight, all Dornkirk could think to say was "Pity."

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**Credits**

Shinji = _Neon Genesis Evangelion_

Mutio = _Blue Sub. NO. 6_

Eruru + Aruru = _Utawarerumono_

Major Motoko Kusanagi = _Ghost in the Shell S.A.C._

Kojiro Murdoch = _Mobile Suit Gundam SEED_

Emperor Dornkirk = _Vision of Escaflowne_

Kratos = _God of War_

**Closing Notes**

Oh man! Sorry this took forever and a day! I'll try and keep up with this!

Thanks for reading. _Zidane Ace._

P.S. All of the e-mail are really supportive thanks guys!!!


	4. Chapter 4

**WARNING:** This fan-fic _will_ contain violence, language, adult themes, angst, names of made up alien people, items, worlds, etc and cameos from other anime and TV shows. It could also contain depictions of nudity and sex later on, so brace yourself!

Disclaimer: Guess what?! I own absolutely nothing contained in this fan-fic! Be it Eva or any other show I will give credit to.

_**Evangelion: The Death God War**_

**Chapter 4:Knightfall**

Sireceien Trees are the larges known trees in the Cluster Worlds. On average, they are a quarter of a mile thicker in diameter and two miles higher than Juraian trees. Unlike trees from Jurai, Sireceien trees lack any type of known forms of intelligence, however they are more durable and contain a stronger power source, so it comes as no surprise that cities are created at their bases and in their trunks. Their incredible energy is thought to come from a form of solar power related to the photosynthesis in the tree. This tremendous and seemingly inexhaustible power supply allowed the dictator, who ruled the planet a short time following the assassination of the previous King, to install the strongest and latest version of energy based hyper-fields. Fortunately for Sirece, there were those who knew of secret entrances and exits to the city making these Hyper-fields useless. Once Queen Aruru came to the throne she ordered all reminisce of the dictatorship removed with the exception of the hyper-fields. These self sustaining trees and their hyper-fields make them excellent fortresses that have been Sirece's last and best line of defense.

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Shinji's eyes took a minute or two to adjust to the shift in light. The dark factory seemed pitch black compared with the cloudless, sunny sky outside. He would have completely ignored this building had he not been asked to come here. The cyborg Major had over heard him telling Aruru that he would be in this area of the city and the woman had told him to be here before returning. It had been a full month and he still couldn't figure her out. His only saving grace was that no one seemed to either.

As his eyes finally gained their lower light functions, he realized that the facility was much larger than it appeared from the outside. He found himself standing on a large catwalk that was raised well above the floor of the factory. To the left and right of him were large human shaped machines, mechs of some type, 'delerons' was what people here called them and there were at least a dozen of them in the factory. These mechs seemed incomplete with their internal workings and frames exposed and without workers in the factory to complete them, they would remain that way. Shinji moved to the railing of the catwalk and looked out into the vastness. Far across the way at the other wall was another row of mech in the same incomplete state of assembly.

In between the two walls was a long structure that resembled the first hill of a roller coaster. It's top nearly touched the ceiling on one side of the building, and came down toward the floor at a steep angle. As it neared the floor it leveled off before coming to an end three quarters of the way back to the other wall. At the very end of the massive structure was what appeared to be a fighter plane and a human shape.

"Shinji!" a far off voice called "You can use the elevator in front of one of the mechs. Just push the button marked 'Launcher'."

Looking over at the mech on his right he could see a set of guard rails set up in a square directly in front of it. Heading over to it, Shinji soon found a break in the rails and entered the square enclosure and closed the metal gate behind him. In one corner was a metal box with a row of buttons marked Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Launcher, and Store. The Level 2 button was pushed in, no doubt indicating what level he was currently on. Pushing the Launcher button caused the Level two button to pop out, the floor panel on which he was standing to shudder slightly and a warning sign lighting up telling him to keep his arms and head inside the guard rail. After another moment the elevator began to descend.

As he passed through the level he'd just been on, he could see that the mechs were suspended off the ground by arms attached to the back of them. If Shinji had to guess these machines when standing on their own probably only came up to the chin on the Evangelion. They still made one feel very small. As Shinji passed through level three, he could peer down and see beneath the launcher level, into what was clearly the 'Store'. In that level were even more mechs! He could clearly make out a row of at least twenty-five of them and as the elevator stopped descending and started moving toward the launcher deck in the center, Shinji could see the the left arms of another row of mechs.

'This must be where they put the finished ones.' Shinji thought to himself.

But as he passed over the row on his side he could see that these too were incomplete. In all seventy-four mechs lay in wait for their creators to finish them. As the elevator finally reached the launcher platform he found the Major waiting for him there. When the elevator came to a stop, he exited and crossed to the Major. He was about to ask why there were so many mechs, but never got the chance.

"Follow me, and pay attention." Said the bionic woman.

She lead Shinji toward the fighter shaped vehicle. The fighter was sunk part way into floor of the launcher, for easy access to the cockpit. Right in front of its nose, the deck dropped off sharply, ten feet down to the actual launching mechanisms, where a pair of small rails in the middle of the launcher deck, leading from underneath the fighter, out toward the hill of the launcher, and no doubt up. Shinji could only assume it did since it was too small for him to see at that distance. What he could see was two sets of massive rails on either side of the small rails that he could see go from the deck where they were standing out to the end of the launcher. He didn't need anyone to tell him what this was. This was the mech catapult which sent them sky ward, and obviously smaller vehicles as well. As they came along the fighter, Motoko turned around and leaned against the fighter, then she reached into her jacket and pulled out a small, inch long cylinder with a two inch long, flat rectangle on one end. She gently tossed it to him.

"Here, this is the key to this thing. Hop in the front seat and I'll tell you all there is to know about her." Motoko said as the key landed in Shinji's hand.

Not being one to argue, Shinji did as he was commanded. Last week, Motoko had overheard a conversation between him and Aruru about his piloting of Eva. She decided to have him tested the following week, to see if he could handle a small flight-craft. After having dealt with a very temperamental machine that was just as likely to kill you as the angels it was built to fight were, Shinji passed the flight test without much trouble. He had been wondering why he had been rushed trough the training, but wished he hadn't learned the answer. A war and an Empire with a pension for destruction. Should a day come when they finally decided to invade the small world, it would be Shinji's job to get Princess Aruru to safety.

"This is the FX-550 Star Grasper. It can out run any military machine in a flat out run. She has a 'Runner' star drive but not a 'Jumper' meaning you have to accelerate up to star drive. Do you see that small hole there? That's for the key." Shinji was doing his best to keep up with her. "Okay. Now, put the key in the recess so that the handle is vertical...now twist it till it's horizontal." The Major continued to instruct and Shinji continued to obey.

As he turned the key all of the screens and panels came to life. They indicated the status of the regular and star drive engines. The "Runner" drive was one of two faster than light modes of travel. A "Runner" allowed a ship to move slightly faster than the speed of light, provided that the regular engines pushed the ship at a certain rate of speed and that the surrounding gravity wasn't too strong. Too much gravity and the energy field which allowed the ship to move at that speed would collapse. On the other hand a "Jumper" drive was bulkier required constant maintenance and at least some gravity to function. Little or no gravity meant that you "jumped" only about a mile or two, of course if you had a strong gravity field like that of a star, one could easily jump from one end of a star system to the other instantly. Few non-military vehicles possessed a "Jumper" drive. In fact most civilian space craft used the space tunnels which used a form of "Runner" drive. A quick look at the ship's instruments told him that the engine and star drive were off, but in perfect working order. In fact only the main computer and life support were on. Before Shinji could ask how to turn everything on the Major provided the answer.

" I want you to slowly push down on the top of the key handle, until I tell you to stop." she said.

Shinji began to push down on the rectangle, as he did the he heard a high pitched whining noise coming from the engines. They were beginning to turn over and the more Shinji pushed down the louder the whine got.

"That's enough. Go ahead and release the key handle." The Major commanded.

The key handle popped back up as soon as he removed his hand from it and the engines went quiet. Shinji looked to the Major for further instructions. But the woman only gave him a small smile and motioned for him to get out of the cockpit. As soon as Shinji put both feet on level ground he was guided by Kusanagi to the back of the Star Grasper to inspect the vehicle. As they moved the Major began to speak again.

"Not much more you need to do to get going. Once you turn the main engines on the mag-rail will start charging; that'll take about three minutes. After that all you have to do is start throttling up, as you do that the launcher doors will begin to open. The locks on the Star Grasper won't let go till the doors are open wide enough." The Major focused on Shinji as he inspected the fighter.

The Star Grasper was blue and white with a few black and orange highlights. Just underneath and to the front of the cockpit was a small canard wing and directly behind the cockpit on top of the fighter was a small dome. Shinji was forced to round the wing as it had a large bulky component on the end of it. When they got to the back, he could see that the two bulky components on either wing were two regular thruster engines, which supported a lager third one in the center of the space craft's fuselage. The whole thing was adorned with a pair of tall tails at the top of the craft. Shinji moved in closer to look into the engine chambers. After a few minutes he looked back at the Major to let him know he was done.

"C'mon kid let's go." The Major said as she began to walk away. "Your flight suits will be left in the steps next to the cockpit when they get here. After you take off head strait for the moon until you start getting close to activating your runner drive. Right before you activate your runner, turn towards Sira, the big gas giant in the system. If anyone tries to follow you, they'll get lost in the gravitational fluxes and ion clouds. Once you're clear head for Goddessa, they'll take you in." The Major concluded as the two of them boarded the elevator.

Motoko tapped the Level 2 button and the elevator was soon on its way back to its original home. She and Shinji did not speak for most of the trip up, but Shinji continued to stare at the unfinished mechs as they passed over the store and went up through level 3 of the factory. As the elevator came to a halt Shinji looked up to the last level. It was nothing more than tiny walk ways and decks for workers. He could see the mech's head section. It too was left bare and its sight caused Shinji to speak.

"Major...?" was all he got out.

"Why don't we armor and arm these guys so that if the Empire does show up we can send them all to hell? Right?" The woman guessed at his question.

"Not in so many words...but yes. You all don't seem like the type to give up without a fight." said Shinji.

"Most of the metal parts are made of either nickel or aluminum, and the frame is an alloy of the two metals. Of course for armor you'd want something like titanium-steel with a materia-gel inner lining and most gun barrels and heavy gun parts are made of the same stuff. Now we could potentially mine the two gas giants for the gel if we got the funding, but no matter where the hell we look, we can't find an ounce of iron on the planet or the moon." Motoko stated.

Shinji did not know a great deal about metallurgy and the elements, but he did know that steel was not an element and that the main ingredient in steel was iron. Even if one only had iron, it alone would make a crude armor. Even Eva's flexible polymer armor required some iron in its construction, although he did wonder if there were other metals and compounds that could be used as protective coverings. The Major had said something about titanium.

"Isn't titanium really strong? Can't you just use it, or combine it with something else?" Shinji asked.

"There is some titanium on the planet, but not a lot. But we do have a massive amount of copper so if we ever need to build something red that we can count on to turn green when we need to, we'll be in good shape." The Major's use of sarcasm was all too obvious.

Shinji pondered the predicament the Sireceiens were in. An Empire without mercy, a rebellion that provided little or no help, and no way to arm themselves. He was so deep it thought that he forgot to shield his eyes as he stepped out of the factory and into the light. He immediately closed his eyes in response to the sting in his eyes, but didn't stopped questioning the Major for more knowledge.

"Why don't more Sireceiens join the rebellion? Wouldn't that get you more support from them?" he asked.

"From them and the Empire." said the Major as she continued to explain their hardships "There are quite a few ship captains and some mech pilots from here, but the rebellion didn't do much in the way of sending support. I've thought of going but..." The Major trailed off as she held up her left hand.

Shinji watched as she removed her glove from her left hand. As she did it revealed a black ring on her index finger and a white one on her middle finger. The rings extended from the knuckle down to the first joint of her finger. On either end of both rings was a thin silver line with writing that Shinji couldn't read. She displayed her hand as if it explained why she didn't go and fight.

"I'm a dual Knight of Sirece. I am both a black knight and a white knight. Normally someone like me would head strait for the front, but not after last year." The Major's tone was even more serious then before

"Why?...What happened last year?" Shinji was somewhat cautious in asking.

Motoko began with a sigh "Last year the Queen wanted to gain more favor with the rebellion, so she sent about half the knights; black, white or both; to the rebellion...we lost all of them." Motoko paused for a moment before going on "After that, Eruru...the Queen decided not to risk the Knights."

Shinji knew there was more to this story than was being told, but decided enough had been said. The walk back to the Palace was fairly straight forward, once they got to the tram they would head directly to the massive tree. But as they approached a fork in the road Shinji headed off to the right. The Major looked at him, confused for a moment, then remember that Shinji had planned to come here before she had 'kidnapped' him. Her slightly curious nature caused her to tail Shinji till he looked back at her questioningly.

"Oh, sorry is this something private? In my job it pays to be nosey." said Kusanagi.

"No it's not private. I could use your help if your not busy." Shinji offered.

The Major nodded and followed the boy toward a more populated area. Soon they were at one of the many bazaars. Several shops lined the street and a small din could be heard from the crowd. Some shops were produce, others were clothing and accessories, but all were small family shops that were only two dozen square feet in length and just over a third more in depth. The crowd was large, as far as she was concerned, two hundred or so shoppers was the usual maximum number one would find on Sirece. A lack of travel between cities or planets and a low economy tended to do that. As the cyborg woman finished surveying the shopping district, she saw Shinji duck into a small shop toward the end of street. Within seconds, she too was inside the store. It was clearly some kind of metal workshop. Many of the parts went to basic appliances, but there were also several custom made objects strewn about the shop in no particular order.

"Um, hello?...Mr. Teoro?" Shinji called out.

"Yeah hang on sec!" A voice bellowed from the back room.

A few seconds after the voice called back the sound of welding could be heard and flashing could be seen from behind a curtain which blocked the view of the back room. After a minute or two the sound stopped. A moment later a large burley man with a mustache came out from behind the curtain. He was clearly in his mid-thirties and was the epitome of macho. He looked down and eyed Shinji with a smile.

"Oh hey little pal! You came at a good time, I just finished the biggest and last piece." The man said with a grin.

"Great, can I see it?" Shinji replied in a monotone voice.

Without another word, the man went back into curtain covered room. After a rustling noise he reappeared carrying, in one hand a structure comprised of metal tubes, and a small box in his other hand. After he laid the box down, Shinji opened it and began examining its contents. Motoko peered over his shoulder to see. Inside was what looked like a pair of cranks, a small replica of an engine chain, thin cables, small spike like disks, and a dozen or so screws or oddly shaped pieces. The Major allowed a curious look to cross her face for only moment before it returned to its expressionless state.

"So everything look okay kid?" Teoro asked almost in a boastful manner

"Yes, thank you. Does Ms. Sopoku have the other parts ready yet?" Shinji asked.

"I'm sure she'll be along in an hour or so." Teoro looked up at Motoko after he had said this and then looked back at Shinji "You know kid, there's a motel down the street if you wanna take the lady there and, you know, 'relax'." Teoro winked as he finished.

Shinji looked at Teoro and then at Motoko before he realized what the man meant. The E.S. over his left eye kept him from having any real reaction, but there was the slight hint of being flustered as he responded.

"Oh, we're not together." Shinji said plainly

"You don't need to be shy about her kid. If I had a smoke'n hot mature babe like her I know what I'd do." Said Teoro

Kusanagi held back a smile as she heard this. She did secretly enjoy people talking about her in this manner. And the thought that she and Shinji were romantically involved was also amusing. What did cause her to smile was seeing a slender hand swing up and hit Teoro across the back of the head. The owner of the hand was a beautiful, blond, green eye Sireceien woman. She was sporting a rather cross looked aimed at Teoro. There was no doubt in Motoko's mind as to who this was. It had to be Teoro's wife.

"Of course I meant that I _have_ a smoke'n hot mature babe...you dear!" Teoro spoke with the fear that all husbands have when they know they have angered their wives.

She simply gave him the cold shoulder and walked over to Shinji giving him a sweet smile as she placed a small box in front of him. There was no sound coming from the box as she put it down. This made Motoko curious as to what was in the box as metal objects would have clinking sounds. As Shinji opened the box she could see a helmet and a strange triangle shaped rubber object. There was also a bag with other small pieces with both metal and rubber on them. Shinji nodded.

"Thank you Ms. Sopoku. Now all that's left are the tires." He said.

"Sorry we couldn't help with that, but I know that the man down the street finished them for you." Sopoku replied.

Shinji shrugged slightly to show that he was unconcerned with it. He then preceded to pick up the strange assortment of metal tubes and small box. He put the metal object over his shoulder and began to put the small box on top of the larger one, but Motoko picked it up before he had a chance to do so. He tucked the small box under his arm, bowed ever so slightly, and began to walk out the door. Sopoku cheerfully waved as he left. Motoko repeated Shinji's actions and Teoro waved slightly. She managed to suppress her smile at seeing the wife spin around to look at him. The look on his face told Kusanagi that the look on her face was not a pleasant one.

"It's not much farther." Shinji said

They had been walking for several minutes up the street, and Shinji had spoken up to reassure her, not that she needed it. The Major was more interested in what she was carrying than how far she had walked. Her cybernetic body made the lifting and travel easy, but none of her electronic sensors could tell her what this was. All she could verify was that it wasn't dangerous. She knew that looking at the small parts was likely to tell her very little, but the main part should have yielded some clues as to what it was.

"Here we are." said Shinji as he made a right turn in to a large shop.

"Hey! Shinji's here!" said one of the workers.

They had entered a wheel shop that was five times the size of any other shop on the street. The shop displayed everything from a massive truck wheel to small rollers that would fit on to luggage or small crates. There were at least a dozen or so workers actively repairing or making wheels. On the far side of the shop was a small crowd of customers near one man who was passing out some of the finished products and taking money. He was clearly being crowded by the small mob as he handed out the orders.

"Alright, alright! One at a time I'll get your order just...Hey Shinji! Don't move I'll bring'em right out!" The crowded man said

The group of customers groaned as the owner came out, but he ignored them as he went into the back. A few seconds later he emerged with two thin wheels, both about two feet in diameter held together by thin wires emanating from the center. He brought them to Shinji and the boy tried to grab the wheels with the hand that was technically free, but the metal tubing on his shoulder made it hard. Instead the Major had the man put the wheels on top of the box she was carrying.

"There ya go kid. You need anything else?" said the owner

"Not right now, but I may need more later." Shinji's voice still monotone.

The owner spoke as he began to walk away "No sweat just come back and let me know."

"You seem to get an awful lot of good treatment around here. Did you tell them who you are?" Motoko whispered the last part so as not to be heard.

the store owner had heard the first part and answered her question "He gets good treatment cause he pays AND tips in advance...all of YOU could learn a little of that!"

The owner shouted the last part of it back to the store of customers who ignored him and started crowding him to get at their orders. Shinji motioned with his head and indicated that it was time to go. As soon as the two of them had exited the store they could see the tram station across the way. Before long they were on their way back toward the Palace. Shinji quickly noticed that they were alone on the tram.

"Major how many stops are there between us and the Palace?" Shinji asked

"None. This is an express. It'll only take about ten minutes or so." The Major add the E.T.A. think that was the boy's concern

In reality Shinji didn't want to bother other passengers that might board. But seeing as no one would be riding with them and he had more than enough time, he decided to start assembling his machine. Motoko would have given a small protest, but she was far too curious to stop him. He laid the metal tubing down and began attaching the small metal and rubber pieces. The parts were quickly screwed or fit into place. The last thing to be done was the attachment of the wheels; which, to the Major's surprise, were not put side by side, but rather they were in line with each other.

"What is it?" The Major asked when the boy was done.

"It's a bicycle." he replied

"A what?" Kusanagi had never heard of or seen anything like this and the name didn't help as an explanation.

Shinji had tried to locate a bike shop on the planet and failed. At first he thought that it was because they were unpopular, but as he asked around he realized that no one had heard of such a type of machine. The thought of any two wheeled vehicle in the Cluster Worlds was unheard of since no one thought that such a thing could stand upright. Motoko was about to ask one of a dozen questions about the strange contraption, but the tram began to slow down before she could. As they entered the station, they could see out the windows to a tiny figure waiting for them. Aruru rushed to Shinji and Motoko as the stepped off onto the platform with the bike in tow.

"Is this the thing you were taking about, big brother?" Aruru stared questioningly at the bike

"Yeah this is it. Hop on." Shinji tried to so sound encouraging as he said this

"Wait a minute! She'll fall if she tries to ride that it's unstable. It can't stand upright even when it's by itself, to say nothing of someone trying to ride it!" The Major finally protested

The Major would have gone on about the seemingly inherent flaws in the bike design, but Shinji decided to settle the argument by getting on it himself. With a single push on one of the petals he was moving effortlessly in circles around the Major and young princess. The two ladies separated from each other and Shinji began doing figure eights around them. To finish off his little demonstration, Shinji pointed the bike away from them and pedaled as hard as he could gaining great speed before squeezing the brakes and rapidly coming to a halt several feet away.

"Wow....I wanna try! I wanna try!" Aruru exclaimed rushing to her new toy.

Soon, Shinji had dressed the young girl in the helmet and placed her on the bike. The Major was understandably, all be it secretively, nervous about how Aruru was wobbling as she tried to master the two wheeled machine. Shinji did have a firm grip on the bike, but would occasionally loosen his grip as the girl became more confident. Before long she too was riding in circles around the pair of on lookers. As Shinji completely released his grip on the bike and allowed Aruru to take full control of it, he rejoined the Major.

"If you want I can get you one too, Major." Shinji spoke quietly

"Thanks, but I don't think that thing will work too well while carrying 250 pounds." Said Motoko

"250 pounds!? Major given your athletic abilities and constant physical work, I'm sure you're well under that...I doubt you weigh more than 140 pounds!" Shinji said surprised at the thought of someone so slender considering themselves to be overweight.

"It's the cybernetic parts kid. They make them as light as possible, but when it comes to performance they..." The Major suddenly stopped talking.

Shinji was about to ask her what was wrong but remembered that she had internal communications and returned his focus out towards his adopted sister. She was still a little shaky, but other wise in control. After a minute or two the Major moved again and looked down at her young companion.

"Well kid, I'm off. The Queen needs me. Are you and Aruru okay by yourselves?" Motoko asked

Shinji nodded and with that the Major was on her way. As she made her way to the Master Command Center (MCC) where the Queen currently was, she passed several 'caretakers' who were assigned to keep the Tree in good health. Occasionally a black spot would appear on the inner walls of the Tree where part of the tree was dying or dead. The were numerous reasons for a tree to have these black spots, too many tunnels in close proximity to each other, waste leakage due to poor pluming, or whatever. The poor caretakers were trying to deal with a rather large black spot that went from the floor to the ceiling and extended about five meters down the hall. From what the Major had heard a black spot was responsible for her being called so suddenly to the Queen.

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When Kusanagi enter the MCC there was a tension in the air caused by some stressful event. She found the Queen over by the primary work station which had about a dozen operators and the best view of the main monitor. Oddly the main monitor was displaying static. The Major was smart enough not to ask what the problem was, but instead merely made her presence known.

"Your highness" Motoko spoke softly

"Look at this! We finally get a large shipment of relief supplies from the rebellion and as they're entering orbit, all of our orbital sensors go out because of some black spot around the base of every antenna. The damn things are now corroding and before we can replace them we have to get rid of all of the black spots and to do that...ugh! Why today of all days?" Complained the Queen.

Motoko just nodded understandingly. Fortunately, removing the spots was not all that difficult a task. All that needed to be done was to flush them with a special Materia/nutrient mix and with in ten minutes the wood of the tree came back to life. Under the circumstances, what with the spots around the antennas and the large spot in the main entrance hall, the Queen had ordered the entire tree to be flushed with the mix. In this large scale flush, a lot more mix was used then was necessary and it took a lot more time to clean up, but it guaranteed that the Tree would be extremely health.

"We'll be ready in about three-four minutes. You should see results almost immediately." a voice came over the intercom.

"How's Aruru?" Eruru said to get her mind off her troubles.

"Fine. She's out riding her bike." Motoko explained.

"Good, I...what?" The woman gave her an odd look

Before Motoko could explain the main monitor suddenly flickered then displayed a map of the planet with a red line and dot showing the path and location of the transport. The orbital station had been made to watch out for distant threats not monitor traffic, but it worked for now.

"Contact with the transport...Still on track for landing." An operator informed everyone in the MCC.

"At least something is going right. Now what the hell is she doing?" Eruru turned back to Motoko for more information about her sister.

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Shinji and Aruru were now walking back towards the Palace and up to the entrance. Aruru was now tired from biking and had her brother walk the bike along side them. They could see the last two caretakers left observing the black spot in preparation for the flush. Aruru had never seen a flush done before and stopped to watch. She was probably fine on her own, but having promised to watch her, Shinji stayed as well. In the MCC the Head caretaker finished the final preparations on the flush and the Queen gave the go ahead.

"Starting the flush...Mix now in the trunk...now entering main roots...now...What the helfffzzzttt...!?" The voice at the other end suddenly became static then cut out.

Everyone did see an immediate reaction, just not the one they were expecting. All of the light and dark brown walls of the Tree shifted to a grey green and black lines streaked out from the corners of the wall. Almost all of the panels, lights and screens of the MCC went dark. Outside the deep brown bark of the Tree began to fade to grey. The large black spot in the main hallway started making a hissing and grey/blue bubbles began to form on the surface.

"Is it suppose to do...?" Before Shinji could finish all of the grey/blue bubbles burst releasing a grey cloud.

The cloud filled the entire hallway and out into the open air. In the MCC chaos reigned. People were shouting and moving about trying to regain control of the lost systems. Only the main monitor still functioned properly. In the center of the mayhem was the Major and the Queen, both doing their best to command the mass of operators.

"Secure all vital areas, and start lock down procedures!" Shouted Kusanagi.

"Move all Palace servants to safe areas, and get the medical staff ready!" The Queen order two guards.

"Call the transport and wave them off! What's the status of the Power control room?" Motoko said as she turned to the operators at the primary work station.

"Have the repair crews reported in yet? And where's Aruru?!" Eruru suddenly began to lose her cool.

Fortunately the Major knew right where she was and hoped Shinji hadn't left her side. Shinji was in fact brushing off the last of the grey dust that had settled in the princess's hair. The two of them and the two caretakers standing right in front of the black spot had been completely covered in grey dust and had spent the last few minutes dusting themselves off. Shinji was about to start cleaning himself off when the communicator in his pocket began to chirp. He quickly removed and answered it.

"Yes? This is Shinji." He said into the device

"Is Aruru still with you?" Motoko's urgent voice came out.

Shinji paused for a moment. It was true she was still with him, but there was a reason for this call. Exploding black spots, the Tree changing colors, and the urgency in the Major's voice all meant something big and bad had just happened and given their trip earlier, he wondered if they should make there way towards the deserted factory.

"Yes she's here. Star Grasper?" Shinji asked without alerting Aruru.

The Major knew exactly what he was asking, and it was a good question. The problem was that she didn't know if the was an attack or just an accident.

"Hang on a sec Shinji. Sit. Rep.!" Motoko barked the order at the lead operator.

The operator responded "Yes Ma'am. Power control reports 40% power fallout, holding steady at 60%. Medical, Emergency repair, and Security teams all report ready. Transport still on approach for landing. Black spots reported in...." Motoko cut him off

"Wait! Why is the transport still in bound? I ordered it to be waved off!" She questioned the whole staff on the order.

"Message was sent and they confirmed saying they would alter course...but we can't seem to raise them again to reconfirm." An operator said.

That was all the information Kusanagi needed. To have what seemed like a minor attack to spread confusion without a main attack force didn't make sense. It had been odd that the rebellion had sent a transport that large. They always got so little when they got anything at all. When the transport had called and said they were a few days away, the rebellion had been contacted and the response was 'Oh yeah? Well I'm sure it's one of ours.' But now the truth settled in. That transport wasn't from the rebellion it was from the Empire and it had to be filled with troops. She used her internal communication system to call Shinji before anything else.

"_Shinji get to the Star Grasper NOW!_...Activate the city's hyper-field and prepare for enemy assault!" Motoko switched from giving orders to Shinji, to giving orders to the MCC.

"But Major the power supply is..." An operator tried to protest but the Major was running out of time.

"MOVE IT!" She yelled as she ran out the door.

The MCC was a third of the way up the Tree and that level had no windows or balconies to keep it secure, but the Major need out in a hurry. She was soon running down stairs and corridors passing workers and security personnel, just to get to the nearest balcony. She arrived just in time to see the transport come into view and the hyper-field begin to close. The field was about halfway down as the ship approached causing it to turn to the side of the city.

'Good. They're not going to try to get in the city. Maybe actually aren't an assault force.' The Major thought.

But her hopes were soon dashed as the transport began dropping large containers as it circled the city. As soon as a container left the ship parachutes opened giving it a gradual decent to the ground. Something a mere supply ship wouldn't be equipped to do.

"Shit!" The Major said as she jumped off the side of the balcony.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

From the ground Shinji could also see the containers and began to pedal harder. Having the princess on his back didn't make it easy but he knew he couldn't worry about that now. All of the trams in the city had suddenly gone down and the bike was now the fastest way to get to the Star Grasper. Fortunately it was a mostly down hill trip and despite everything that was going on they were already halfway there.

"Shinji, what's going on?" Aruru worried

"I'll tell you when we get where we're going." Shinji said in his monotone voice

For the first time he was genuinely grateful for the E.S. stuck on his head. As they rounded a turn the factory came into view. Only a few hundred yards now separated them from the Star Grasper's makeshift hanger. Kusanagi was also only a few hundred yards from her destination as well. This was even more impressive than Shinji's accomplishment since she had gone from the Palace to the outer wall. For whatever reason, response to the transport and its containers was limited. There were only a handful of knights left, but they should have been able to fire back a little bit. As Motoko reached the wall she found one of her knights lying on the ground with a small amount of blood near his head.

'Were they hit when the transport went by?' The Major questioned herself.

She looked out beyond the wall. She now had to look through the hyper-field as it had now been fully deployed. Motoko couldn't tell when the man had been hit and if the transport went by before the field was fully closed, but at the moment that didn't matter. Most of the containers had landed and were not particularly close to the city itself. At the distance they were at, only the plasma howitzers could hit them. Once again, the weapons were oddly quiet. Looking over she could see three men working at one of them. As she ran towards them a small group of solders came up the steps leading to the wall.

"Get that man to a medic! The rest of you, find a gun and man it! If anything comes within two hundred yards hit it with everything you've got!" The Major ordered them as she ran by.

She was soon at the howitzer and found the men arguing. Apparently the power to arm the weapon was gone due to whatever had happened. With the main source of power for the city cut nearly in half and the bulk of what was left being use for the hyper-field it wasn't that great a surprise. However they needed those howitzers and soon as well as the other guns and what few mechs they had flying support.

"Just find the power and shoot the thing will ya!" One solder said to the one sitting at the controls.

"Easier said than done! If we try drawing too much energy from the path ways in the state they're in they could rupture or even cause an overload in the barrel! We gott'a take the time to do this right!" complained the solder at the controls.

The first solder was about to tell him that they had no time to do this, when the Major took command.

"How long?" She asked

"I don't know. I have to test each one individually." he said

"Get to it and hurry! And you, why aren't you manning a gun?" She asked the first soldier

"I have Lady Iza on one she should be...Iza!" exclaimed the soldier

Turning to see what had shocked the man, the Major made out a figure slumped over the controls of one of the mid-range machineguns. There was something bright red on the controls of the weapon, without a doubt, it was blood and it belonged to the poor knight. The soldier was soon at his comrade's side and pulling the injured woman along side the first man the Major had found wounded. A medic now treating him meant that at least Iza would not have to go far for treatment. The medic took a quick look at her and then began to treat her.

'Still alive huh? Were they both hit by the same attack?' The Major thought again.

"Major?" came a voice from inside Motoko's head. It was Shinji.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

He and Aruru had arrived at the factory and were descending to the launcher. Motoko felt some relief as she heard this but not much. With the howitzers out it looked like Shinji and the princess would soon need to leave. God knows if they would ever be able to return. She told him to wait for her signal. Shinji replaced the communicator to its home in his pocket and then looked down at his new sibling. She held his hand tight. She was clearly afraid now and with good reason. An invasion force was right outside and it was possible she would never again see her sister, the Major, or anyone else she knew. Shinji knew how that felt and it was definitely not something a person should have to go through, least of all a little girl. As the elevator reached the launcher, Shinji did his best to comfort the child.

"It'll be okay...The Major is a great fighter. Even if we have to leave it'll only be for a little while." his monotone voice did not aid his cause

"You don't know that! I wanna help! Everyone's fighting but us! Why are we here?!" The girl's stubborn nature began to take effect

Shinji knew enough about his new sister to know that if he didn't find a way to stop this stubbornness he have to fight her the whole way to Goddessa. Luckily Shinji had one way to get her in the jet.

"We are going to fighting them. The best way we can fight them" Said Shinji

"We...are?" Asked Aruru, confused by the statement.

"The Empire wants to hold you hostage so they can force your sister to surrender. But by running we're forcing them to send a lot of soldiers to come find us. The more soldiers chasing us, the less that are here and the easier it is for Kusanagi to win. See?" This time Shinji's monotone voice did aid his cause.

Aruru was not entirely convinced, but nodded and walked towards the Star Grasper. Their flight suits were sitting on the steps leading up to the cockpit exactly where the Major said they'd be. Taking one Aruru went around to the other side of the craft. Shinji was grateful that he did not have to completely strip in order to put the suit on as he would with his old plug suit, but still wished he didn't have to altogether.

'Major I hope your doing well.' Shinji quietly prayed in his mind.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"We're having trouble launching cause the catapult is out, but the first one is in the air right now!" The voice in Motoko's head now belonged to the Palace dock master

He was in charge of launching the few combat ready mechs they had and, all be it slowly, he was getting them in the air. Motoko could now see the first mech come around from the ill colored tree and slowly make it's way to the wall. Outside the wall she could see humanoid shapes assembling some kind of anti-mech weapons, but they looked like they were far from being ready to use it. Meanwhile the young soldier at the howitzer pounded and cussed at the controls trying to get it to function. Although there was still chaos the Major began to feel like this could still be turned around.

'They're not getting those guns up fast enough to shoot down mechs.' she thought 'If we can just keep them busy till we get the howitzers back we can at least make the capitol city safe.'

The Major's plan was set. She activated her internal comm system to speak with the mech pilot now in the air over the city. She turned to look at it just in time to see it fall from the sky.

Aruru had beaten Shinji to the cockpit. She had clearly put on a flight suit before and was now quietly sitting waiting for him. Shinji now retracted his previous thought of how much better this was in comparison to plug suits. He had to screw on multiple parts of the suit such as the gloves, boots, and oxygen hoses. He wondered why the Major had left out those instructions during training. Still he did manage to get the suit assembled and was beginning to climb the steps to the cockpit with his helmet in one hand and the key in the other. As he reached the top he looked to the second seat.

"Alright Aruru are you strapped in and ready to..." Shinji froze

The E.S. had prevented almost any emotional response to occur, but what Shinji saw still caused a shiver to go down his spine.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"What the hell happened?!" The Major shouted

The sight of the debris and dust kicked up by the mech as it crashed into the ground was visible for all to see. The dock master hadn't seen it and couldn't believe it, but the agitated tone of Kusanagi's voiced forced him to look at the one working sensor he had left.

"I don't know Major. He said everything was fine ten seconds ago. Did he take a hit?" The dock master asked

"He was still inside the field! How could he take...Never mind! Get the rest of them airborne, stat!" Motoko then turned to the solider at the plasma howitzer "Tell me you've got that thing working."

"Just about Major I think if I...*cough*...reroute through two...*cough*...sub-sta...*cough**cough*" Suddenly the young soldier doubled over

He began coughing so hard he couldn't speak and the with one horrible sound from his lungs, he bathed the controls in the bright red of his own blood. Motoko soon had the young man in her arms and turned him around to look at him. He was quivering, his eyes were rolled back, his breath was shallow and he was making a wheezing sound. The on set of illness was far to quick for the Major's liking. It was clear. This man had been poisoned. It then occurred to her that he probably wasn't the only one. Her bionic eye allowed her to zoom in on things and she chose at that moment to look at Iza and the other knight, both of them now being carried away.

A quick look at their face was all the Major needed. Both of them had blood coming from only one place. Their mouths. They too had coughed up blood, not because they were injured, but because they were poisoned. And it was probably no coincidence that the mech pilot had crashed so suddenly either. But how was the question. The sensors should have detected a build up in toxins if the city came under bio/chem attack.

"All stations this Major Kusanagi we are currently under bio/chem attack. Follow all standard protection procedures. MCC this is the Major over." Kusanagi hoped some one was still healthy there.

"We copied your last Major, but sensors show no sign of any toxins. The tree's purifying system reads okay. Should we increase output on it?" The operator asked.

"With all the shit that's been happening to the Tree, it would surprise me if that...THE TREE!" Motoko realized as she stared out towards the tree

It's pale look was getting worse and the leaves of the tree were now beginning to turn an odd color. And now, a grey mist could be seen emanating and descending from the tree top. The Empire had gone so far as to poison the tree that sustained life for more than just the Sireceiens. They had no concern for the countless lives that would soon become ill from this. Worst of all, the entire anti-bio/chem warfare plan centered around the Tree's ability to purify almost any toxin. It went without saying that this very system was now pumping out a deadly substance. There was now only one concern left in the Major's mind.

"Shinji, Take off now! They don't have they're A.A. guns ready yet! If you leave now you'll make it!" Order Motoko

"I...can't." was all Shinji said

"What!? What do you mean you can't?" Motoko was now beyond frustrated

"The princess is...sick." Shinji's monotone voice was barely above a whisper.

"What do you mean she's...'No'..." The Major knew what Shinji meant

"She's...coughing up blood...I'm going to take her back to the Palace...back to Doc Mutio. Okay?" Shinji said as he cut the connection

"...........right......." Motoko said this knowing Shinji had long since stopped listening

Outside the sun was beginning to set and the enemy soldiers finished setting up their weapons and various gear. Inside the hyper-field the grey cloud settled over the city silently as death itself. And at the wall in between the two another soldier fell coughing, blood coming from his mouth. And standing in the middle of it all was Major Motoko Kusanagi, a soldier who had no way to reach the enemies she knew how to kill and no skill to kill the enemy that was everywhere and nowhere inside the city. All she could think to say was...

"DAMN IT!"

**To Be Continued **

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**Credits**

Shinji = _Neon Genesis Evangelion_

Mutio = _Blue Sub. NO. 6_

Eruru + Aruru + Teoro + Sopoku = _Utawarerumono_

Major Motoko Kusanagi = _Ghost in the Shell S.A.C._

**Closing Notes**

Oh man! Sorry this took forever and a day! I'll try and keep up with this!

Thanks for reading. _Zidane Ace._

P.S. All of the e-mail are really supportive thanks guys!!!


	5. Chapter 4OMAKE

**This is IMPORTANT info. Read this before anything else! = **Several people have shown an interest in seeing if Shinji will "hook up" with anyone or not. Given the story line I have planned, it will be difficult to get Shinji to be with someone on an intimate level. So here is what I plan to do. Every so often I will have an **OMAKE** **Chapter**. These chapters will feature a girl from the chapter that is being **OMAKE**ed . Not every chapter of the main story will have an **OMAKE** of it, only ones where I feel Shinji could connect with a lovely lady. These **OMAKE Chapter**s WILL CONTAIN SEX! So if you do not like the lemon variety of fanfic merely skip the **OMAKE Chapter** and move on. I promise you will not miss any plot points or important information if you go on to the next chapter of the main story line. You will be warned that you are about to read an **OMAKE Chapter** like this...

**WARNING:** This fan-fic _will_ contain unnecessary and obscene amounts of super naughty sex and nudity because this is an **OMAKE!**

Disclaimer: Guess what?! I own absolutely nothing contained in this fan-fic! Be it Eva or any other show I will give credit to.

_**Evangelion: The Death God War**_

**OMAKE Chapter 4:Knightfall **

* * *

Shinji turned on to the street which held Teoro and Sopoku's metalwork store. Having found no bike shop on the planet meant that if he wanted to give one to Aruru, he had to have one made. A task that had become increasingly more complicated as time went on. At first he thought that this store would be his only stop, then he was told that the tires were a little out of Teoro's league. Thankfully, Sopoku knew the owner of a shop which specialized in making tires and wheels. Still, It had taken half an hour to explain to the man what the tire looked like and how it was suppose to fit. All of this just for a simple bike. And then there was the Major.

Major Motoko Kusanagi to be exact. She had requested his presents at the factory. It was a good thing he was wearing an E.S. for two reasons. The first was the task she asked him to do. The thought of open war, flying a machine he'd just seen today and being responsible for the life of the young princess would have drained him emotionally. Having gone through a similar situation on Earth made the current problems all too familiar. The second issue was the Major herself.

Motoko turned heads where ever she went. She had smaller ears then the average Sireceien, which made her look human, until you saw her white, brown tipped tail. Shinji was reminded a great deal of Misato when he looked at Kusanagi. Although Kusanagi had shorter hair and a brighter eye color then that of Misato, they had a lot in common. Height, hair color, skin tone, and (most notably) body type. Both women had slender, yet well athletically shaped, bodies and full firm breasts. And just like Misato, Kusanagi was clearly proud of them.

She had followed him from the factory. She had asked if what he was doing was private and he could have said yes, but Shinji felt that this would have been rude and besides, he was going to need an extra set of hands.

Soon the unusual duo found themselves at the small metal workshop. Shinji had learned that about a third of the items in the shop were little art projects that Teoro and Sopoku did to past the time. Some of them had moving parts and it was this that convinced Shinji that they were the one to build the bike. But as he looked around he could not either of the two Sireceiens. He wondered for a moment if they had closed and called out to see if they there.

"Um, hello?...Mr. Teoro?" Shinji called out.

"Yeah hang on sec!" A voice bellowed from the back room.

A few seconds after the voice called back the sound of welding could be heard and flashing could be seen from behind a curtain which blocked the view of the back room. After a minute or two the sound stopped. A moment later a large burley man with a mustache came out from behind the curtain. He was clearly in his mid-thirties and was the epitome of macho. He looked down and eyed Shinji with a smile.

"Oh hey little pal! You came at a good time, I just finished the biggest and last piece." The man said with a grin.

"Great, can I see it?" Shinji replied in a monotone voice.

Without another word, the man went back into curtain covered room. After a rustling noise he reappeared carrying, in one hand a structure comprised of metal tubes, and a small box in his other hand. After he laid the box down, Shinji opened it and began examining its contents. Inside he found the bike chain, brake controls, bike petals and other various parts all as he had requested them. They were not BMX quality, but they were adequate. He also found the Major looking over his shoulder to see and this act brought her voluptuous breasts close to his left arm.

Once again the E.S. kept Shinji calm, but he still felt the pang of being uncomfortable and decided to move things along. However, he still need the brake pads, bike seat, and helmet. These were the tasks that Sopoku had taken, and Shinji assumed she was in the back room.

"So everything look okay kid?" Teoro asked almost in a boastful manner

"Yes, thank you. Does Ms. Sopoku have the other parts ready yet?" Shinji asked.

"I'm sure she'll be along in an hour or so." Teoro said plainly.

This gave Shinji a somewhat of a hard choice. He could try to go back to the Palace and drop off the bike's frame and other parts as well as let the Major return to her duties, but that could take more than an hour and the shop would be closed by then, and he had promised Aruru that she could see what he was building. On the other hand, he could leave the frame and parts here and just walk around the Bazaar for an hour, but he would either have to have the Major go with him for that long or let her go back to the Palace and try and pick up everything by himself. He was weighing all his options when Teoro presented him with a far more interesting one.

"You know kid, there's a motel down the street if you wanna take the lady there and, you know, 'relax'." Teoro winked as he finished.

Shinji looked at Teoro and then at Motoko before he realized what the man meant. The E.S. over his left eye kept him from having any real reaction, but he still felt a little shy when it came to the thought of him being with a woman, especially one as attractive as Motoko Kusanagi. Shinji was of course going to explain that he and the Major we not involved and decide on a course of action regarding the next hour. But once again, fate had decided that Shinji would not have a say in making the decision.

"That sounds like a good idea. Shinji leave the stuff here, we'll come back for it after we're done." Kusanagi said this as plainly as if it was a simple matter.

"Yeah! No worries. You've already paid so you can come back in two or three hours if you want. Me and Sopoku always stay a little while after we've officially closed. We'll hand ya all the stuff then." Teoro said in support of the plan he'd set in motion.

With that, he picked up the bike frame and the box and took them to the back. The E.S. couldn't stop Shinji from being surprised and he had been momentarily stunned by Motoko's response, so much so that he didn't realize that Teoro was gone with his things. When he did finally shake off the slight shock he tried looking for Teoro, but knew he was not permitted in the back. He then looked back towards the Major, who was walking out the door.

Shinji followed the woman outside to confront her about her actions, however when he reached the exit the Major was a few yards farther away than he expected. Shinji ran after her as she continued to move away slowly It was no great effort for Shinji to give chase, but as soon as he was close enough to speak in a normal voice she would move away quickly. This little game of 'falling behind and catching up' went on for several minutes until suddenly Shinji lost sight of her completely.

'Ha ha very funny.' Shinji thought. 'I'm being teased.'

Having compared Motoko to Misato, he really did feel like the Major was channeling the other woman. Katsuragi would have found this just a big a laugh as the Major no doubt did. But, although the Major did find this amusing, this was no joke. After awhile, Shinji finally caught sight of the Major again. She was standing on a walking path carved out of one of the many roots that were jutting out from the massive tree. The path was about twelve feet above Shinji, but it didn't take him long to find stairs up to her. This time as Shinji approached, the Major remained in place.

"Why did you do that?" Shinji tried to sound angry, but failed.

"To get you here." Was all she said.

"Here? Where, here?" Shinji asked now completely puzzled.

"The motel, of course." Motoko said as if he should have known.

Shinji was once again surprised by the statement. looking to the wall on his right he came to the realization that it was lined with doors. Their uniform and equal spacing was eerily reminiscent of an Earth motel. The Major walked up to the door she was standing across from and pulled a key from her pocket. Shinji wonder for a moment as to when she had gotten the key, but figured that he had lost sight of her long enough for her to acquire one from the staff.

"C'mon in." She said as she opened the door.

Shinji wasn't sure why he obeyed this, half order, half invitation, but he soon started wondering how far this teasing would go on for. Misato would have ended this before getting a room, but the Major seemed less and less like Misato as the day wore on. The door closed behind Shinji automatically, locking it to the outside world. Once Motoko heard the click of the door she removed her jacket.

The jacket had not been particularly flattering as it bulged out slightly. It hadn't made her look fat, but it did make her look somewhat boxy. The rest of her attire displayed her features amazingly. Her boots, an off white color, came up about mid-thigh. her top possessed no straps and almost no back. The belt she wore separated top and bottom halves of her garment. Finally, her bottom piece dark, almost black, color that resembled the bottom of a bikini. Without question, Motoko Kusanagi was an excellent example of sexiness.

This is where Shinji came at odds with his E.S. Although not embarrassed and flustered by the sight of Kusanagi, he was not aroused by it either. Shinji didn't want a full hard on, but if he had to chose between being embarrassed about it working or depressed about it not working at all. He'd rather be in the same boat as any man who had a beautiful woman present. Shinji was trying to think of something to say to get himself out of the current situation, when Motoko changed the dynamic of it.

"Mutio told me you would probably have trouble getting it up because of the E.S., that's why she gave me this." Motoko display a medicine injector like the one for his E.S. "This stuff will get you up in a hurry without any side effects... So you've got well over an hour, a functioning member, and a willing partner. What ever will you do?" She finished.

"If you have that, then that means you and Mutio planned this. What the hell for?" Shinji again trying to show anger

"Think of it as part of your treatment. Good sex is a great confidence builder. And I'm always good sex." Motoko said as she moved towards the bed.

"You can't force me to do this. This door doesn't lock people in, I can still leave you by yourself." Shinji saying this to both the Major and to himself.

"Oh I don't have to force you. You see, according to the doctor, the need for sex is deeper than emotions, they just help the thing along. All I have to do is tempt you." A mischievous smile graced her lips as she said this.

When Motoko reached the edge of the bed, she tossed Shinji the injector then went to work on her cloths. She striped in a slow deliberate manner so as to give Shinji every chance to view her. Her boots were first, and were easy to remove as they were connected at the top. She barely had to bend over to unhook them and slide them off. Next she unhooked her belt and tossed it to the floor as well. Her hands slowly moved to the back where her remaining article of clothing was held in place. She hoped the act would build some anticipation in the boy. She pulled at the connecting piece, heard it snap and felt her tight clothing loosen.

Shinji watched as the clothing slipped off her breasts, down over her stomach, and continued to stare as she pulled her bottom piece over her tail and buttock, and let it pool at her feet. She then stepped out of the tangled mess and crawled on to the rather large bed. Motoko laid down on her side propping up her head with her hand, facing Shinji so he could see her splendid, naked figure. Shinji, without his feelings of embarrassment and knowing he had permission to do so, looked the woman over. Her face was sporting a very simple smile, but her eyes still held their mischievous gleam. Her breasts were as full as they had appeared when covered, with light pink areolas with erect nipples. He traced the lines of her body down towards her smooth flat abs and belly button. Finally his eyes came to rest on her cleanly shaven sex.

Shinji's mind grappled with the decision. And all of his thoughts revolved around one question; Why not? They had time, he was now able to perform, she was beautiful, and as it turned out, Dr. Mutio was right. Shinji was in fact feeling the need to in engage in the act of intercourse. In the end Shinji could find no reason to say no. With that, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, put the injector up to his E.S. and pressed it in. He took a few moments to breathe with his eyes closed to see if he felt anything, but couldn't tell if anything was happening. After another moment he opened his eyes and still found the Major, nude and in the same position she had been lying in, only now she sported a wide smile.

Motoko gently patted the open space on the large bed next her and he complied. He sat down on the edge of the bed with his back to Motoko. He began to turn around, but paused when he felt her hands on his shoulders. She deftly pulled the his unbuttoned over shirt off his body and tossed it in to the pile of cloths she had already created. Shinji began kicking off his own shoes when he felt the Major uniting the leather rope which held Misato's cross.

"That!..." Shinji said hurriedly "Stays on." he said more calmly.

Motoko had stopped and Shinji began to worry he'd ruined the mood, but soon he felt the warm touch of lips on the back of his neck letting him know it was alright. He finished kicking off his shoes and socks as he felt the Major's hands wrap around from behind to unzip his under shirt. It too joined the now tangled mess of cloths belonging to the two of them. A small sign that they too would soon be entangled in each other.

Shinji felt her warm hands lightly go up and down his chest and stomach. He felt her large unobstructed breasts squeeze up against his bare back. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he felt his right ear being softly chewed on. The feel of lips, teeth, and tongue on his earlobe sent a wave of electricity up and down his spine. And it was this combination of acts that caused his member to stir. This somewhat surprised Shinji even though he knew he'd taken the medication.

'Oh! I have to respond to her touch and not just the sight of her.' Shinji concluded

The sensual ministration went on for a few more minutes as Shinji's breathing began to sound like small moans. He was becoming so enthralled by the act that he never noticed Motoko's hand traveling further and further south, even as it slowly moved beneath his pants' waistband. He remained oblivious to it until her pinky brushed over the head of his penis. The contact caused him to inhale sharply and snap back to reality. Kusanagi's hand remained where it was and she removed her mouth from his ear.

"Ready?" Motoko breathed into the ear she'd just chewed on.

At this point, Shinji's mouth was too dry to speak. The thought of backing out crossed his mind, but his physical need was now far too great, so he managed a nod. Motoko slid off the bed and around in front of Shinji. He could now see her magnificent form up close and she gladly gave him a moment to observe. Her skin was lightly and evenly tan. Her breasts were gently rising and falling with her soft breathing. And he could see her sex was moist. Shinji didn't no why, but he began to reach towards her clit with his right hand.

"No, no, no. I'm the one in control of this little game." The Major said as she brought her face close to his and brushed his hand away.

She then kissed him. She slowly pushed her tongue pass his lips, but did not go too deep, just enough to give him the sensation. She had other plans. As soon as she went around his mouth once she pulled away from the kiss. Motoko began trailing kisses down his neck to his chest and from there to his abdomen. As she reached the belly button she began to unbuckle Shinji's belt. This, in Shinji's mind, was the point of no return. If he allowed her to remove the final barrier between man and woman, then he would be unable to control what happened next. When the Major began to pull his trousers down, Shinji did not immediately raise his hips off the bed.

Instead of asking what was wrong, Kusanagi slipped her hand into the inside of the waist band and slid them around to the back leaving them there. It was clear that she was going to wait patiently for him, but her mouth refused to be idle. It continued to kiss around his belly button and abdomen, only now she allowed her tongue into the fray. She also did not remain above the belly button with her kissing and licking. Motoko frequently kissed below it, indicating she was not only willing to, but also desired to go that direction with her mouth.

Shinji, although still somewhat uncomfortable with his position, was very much enjoying the feel of Motoko's lips and tongue. He found himself asking the same question he'd asked a few minutes ago. 'Why not?' The same reasoning went through his mind again. They had time, he was up, she was beautiful, and he'd already come this far. Once again Shinji took a deep calming breath and lifted his hips.

Motoko took the the chance and pulled his pants and boxers down. As she started getting the legs of the pants near his ankles she began kissing his thighs and took the opportunity to examine her next destination on her little tour of Shinji Ikari. In terms of length he was just at an average six inches, however he was thicker and wider then her average lover. It's girth meant that only her thumb and middle finger were long enough to get around it. But what impressed Motoko most of all was the age at which her young partner had achieved his size.

'If he keeps...growing...at his age, give him a few years and he could be an awesome fuck. He and I might become regulars!' Kusanagi thought mischievously.

As she finished her thought, she pulled his pants legs clear of his ankles. The pants and boxers, instead of joining the other garments in the pile, were thrown across the room. Motoko had been aiming with the others, but she was too preoccupied with her new toy to care, plus she wanted his pants as far away as possible. Putting both hands on each of his knees, she gently moved them towards his manhood, opening his legs along the way, until her hands grasped their prize.

He involuntarily inhaled and closed his eyes at sensation of strange fingers wrapping around his most private and sensitive organ. It was both torturing and pleasing to have her fingers began to roam. They were almost examining his phallus to see where all of the lines and angles lead to and what parts were softest and which were the most firm. The wonderful feel of her hands, however, were soon eclipsed by a new and completely foreign touch.

It was soft, warm, and smooth. Soon Shinji felt the length of his penis being squeezed between two firm cushions. He reopened his eyes and looked down to confirm what he suspected. His already beating heart became more rapid at the sight of his dick being wedged between Motoko's boobs. Her tits brushed up against his waist and groin area. And her hot breath struck his abs as she rose up and down his length. This was just as pleasant to Shinji as her hands were, but he found her breasts more relaxing then torturing, So he leaned back onto his elbows.

This allowed the Major to start a more rhythmic rocking motion. She was glad because she too was enjoying the feel of his hot dick in her rack and her tits rubbing on his skin. She had to be careful though. She did not want him to cum yet. It wasn't that she minded if the boy came on her tits, rather, she wanted to ensure that he was inside her when he did it. After a few more minutes of slow, easy, deliberate rocking motions, she stopped.

"So, how you doing?" She asked sexily

He was about to respond with a simple 'good' when voices in the back of Shinji's head sounded. As if calling from beyond the grave, Shinji could swear he heard the voices of Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida yelling out what they would say. 'Fantastic!, Amazing!, Wonderful!, Incredible!, Awesome!, Unbelievable!' and host of other words. Somewhere deep in Shinji's mind, despite the E.S., he felt a sense of amusement at the nature of his friends. Although he felt all of these words were a little uncharacteristic of himself, he did feel that good wasn't quite right either.

"Great...really great." he said, breathing somewhat heavily

"Good!...You know what's next, right?" She said with a sly, sexy smile.

Again, Shinji's mouth became too dry to speak so he merely nodded. Motoko tenderly picked up Shinji's cock between her first two fingers and thumb, then pointed it straight up. Her three fingers gave it a few gentle strokes and then she gave the tip a quick lick, which caused Shinji to hiss. Motoko smiled inwardly. She loved it when men responded to her technique. Shinji looked down at the sight and in that moment their eyes met. He gazed into her intense reddish colored eyes, now filled with immense lust. For a few seconds Motoko simply looked at him as she touched her tongue to the tip then quickly removed it before repeating the act.

Then she tilted her head slightly forward opened her mouth wider and winked a split second before bobbing her head downward. The act of oral sex felt like a combination of the hand job and titty fuck the Major had just given him. Her mouth was warm and smooth like her breasts, but now included the wet feeling of her saliva that allowed her to move up and down more easily then with her breasts. The Major's tongue, like her fingers, traced the curves of his penis. It also had the slight feel of torture as it touched certain areas, but the torture was replaced an instant later by the soft, wet pressure of the unique muscle.

Pleasure shot through Shinji's body like a tidal wave. For a moment he would feel his spine tense and then in the next few seconds it felt loose and fluid like calm water, until Kusanagi did something with her tongue again and another moment in which his spine would tense again. Shinji did his best to keep from pumping into her mouth, not wanting to hurt her, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as his body demanded that he actively seek out the pleasure he was receiving.

"AH!...OH!...Ooo!...Major!...Ah!" Shinji said, unable to form a complete sentence

The Major took her mouth off his penis to speak. She stared at his dick and stroked it lightly, to keep it entertained, as she spoke.

"Major is fine when we're in public, I expect it in fact, but I think you should be on a first name basis with the person whose sucking you off. Don't you?" Said Motoko

"Right Maj...Motoko." Shinji said.

"Right. Oh, and don't be afraid to buck you're hips a little. Don't worry, I can take it." She said while wearing her sexy smile.

With that, Motoko bowed her head again onto his phallus. Shinji now allowed his baser instincts to control him. As Motoko slid her mouth down, he would thrust upward. Shinji felt he no longer had control over his own body, but he also no longer cared. Motoko knew she had him totally at her mercy. Unlike others, Motoko felt empowered when she gave head. No man (or woman for that matter) could command her when she put her mouth between their legs. Even when they bucked their hips and thrashed about, she held mastery over their bodies. And soon Shinji's thrusting and thrashing were becoming more forceful.

'He's getting close!' She thought triumphantly.

She was right. Shinji was now feeling the urgent need to allow his seed to be let loose from their dam. Each time Motoko's mouth and tongue plunged downward was another crack in that dam and it would not be long before the point of no return came. Shinji had heard (from one of Asuka's rants no doubt) that men weren't allowed to cum in a woman's mouth unless they told them it was alright. Worried that Motoko might be upset if he did, he decided that warning her would be prudent.

"Motoko I...Ah! Have to...Ah! C-cum. I HAVE TO CUM!" The last part of Shinji's plea shouted during a surge of tension.

Shinji, however, did have permission to cum in Motoko's mouth. In fact she was planning on it and to facilitate that outcome, she quickened the pace of the bobbing of her head. A violent storm of pleasure now hit Shinji and within a few seconds he reached his breaking point. He could feel the release of his seed begin and he made one final, desperate attempt at a warning.

"MOTOKO...OH...OH...I...I...AH...HAV...AH...AH...AAAAAHHHHH!" Shinji blurted out.

Unable to form the sentence, Shinji's head snapped back as his orgasm began. Motoko felt his penis begin to start pumping and she slowed her head movements so she could use her tongue and mouth to assist it. She felt the salty taste of semen on her tongue. His cum was thick, creamy, and warm, as well as plentiful. She concluded that he had, had no sexual relief since he got here or even before that.

'The poor guy really need this!' Motoko thought, glad she had provided her services.

He felt his dick throb at it's own beat. Every pulse sending Shinji's essence into his lover's welcoming mouth. It also felt like Shinji's energy was being drained, as well something else. Like used bath water being drained, Shinji felt as if the dirt that was in him was being sucked away. Motoko, the one doing the sucking, made sure to swallow his cum as it came. She kept a tight seal over his member until it had pumped the last of his creamy seed into her throat, then she pulled her head up, maintaining the seal so as to add one last ounce of pleasure. When the seal finally broke as her lips went over the head of his penis it sent one last small wonderful shock through Shinji's body.

Shinji slowly came down from the high of orgasm and felt time slow as well. His penis, now having ejaculated, softened and became limp. Shinji laid flat on his back now breathing steadily, but he could still feel a somewhat rapid beating in his chest. Motoko allowed her breasts to come to rest on top of his dick. She wanted to keep it warm since they weren't finished, not by her standards anyway.

She slowly rubbed her right hand up and down his torso to help him relax and calm down after the excitement he'd just gone through. Soon Shinji's heart rate was more normal and he felt himself regaining his usual energy. But Motoko wanted his sexual energy back. Feeling, through her fingers, that his heart rate had slowed, she again put his dick in her mouth. It was still deflated from the recent fallitio, but the new oral action was not intended to cause another orgasm. It was instead designed to quicken the return of his arousal. Rather than suck on the limp member, she swirled it around in her mouth with her tongue.

Shinji, who was in no way oblivious to this, looked down towards his waist, where the deed was being done. Motoko paid no attention to his gaze. She was content to roll is manhood around with her tongue for a while longer and he knew it. Shinji, on the other hand, wasn't sure he liked the idea of him getting off twice while his partner remained unsatisfied, though he did full enjoy the pleasantness of oral sex.

"Um...Motoko...hang on a sec." Said Shinji.

She stopped without saying a word, but his manhood remained part way in her mouth, her lips closed around it. Her eyes almost glared at him, though she was not actually upset. She just wished he would allow her to suck him off again. Fortunately, Shinji also wanted to engage in sexual activity with her, with just a minor adjustment.

"Can we...try something?" He asked somewhat shyly

The shy look told her, he wanted a new position, not to stop. This meant that he was much more open to sex and they would now be able to fully enjoy themselves. This thought caused the left side of her lip to curl up slightly. The sight of a woman smiling while she had his penis in her mouth caused Shinji to start feeling hardness return to his groin. Detecting the lengthening of his sex, Motoko released it from her mouth, since she wanted him to enjoy it as long as possible in whatever position they were trying.

"Sure. What did you have in mind?" Motoko asked intrigued.

"Could we do a 69?" Shinji said still partly shy.

"A what?" She asked in confusion, having never heard the term before.

It took Shinji a moment to realize that the Sireceien number sixty-nine and the Earth number 69, probably looked completely different and so the meaning was lost. It took him a minute to explain what he meant to Motoko. He was still shy, but having already had a blow job helped. Before long, the experienced woman understood what the boy wanted to try.

"Oh! You mean a lover's loop!" Motoko said

"Right." Said Shinji hoping the two terms were one in the same.

"You sure? I'm fine just sucking on you here." Motoko questioned.

"I'd still like to try it." He said more resolutely

Motoko shrugged and stood up as Shinji slid all of his body onto the king sized bed. When he was done positioning himself, Motoko turned her body in the opposite direction and swung her leg over his head. Shinji could now see all of her vagina. It was moist with a light shade of pink and the fact that she had to spread her legs some to accommodate his head, allowed him to see it open slightly. As Motoko lowered herself toward his member, she thought aloud.

"You know, it's been a long time since I've been in a lover's loop...at least with a guy that is." Motoko said with a grin.

She knew that Shinji would instantly picture her in this position with another woman. The result was that any softness remaining in his dick was immediately hardened and a second later she put the sex organ back in her mouth. Shinji was now reeling from the double assault on body (the blow job from Motoko) and mind (The image of two women having sex). However, he wanted to do this so as not to leave her out of the pleasure, so he tilted his head up. He was a bit nervous looking into the female sex, but he was determined to give Motoko the same oral treatment she'd just given him and so, put his face to her clit.

The sensation of a tongue on her own sex would have been exquisite had it not been for the fact that she had turn down the sensitivity of her vagina. She was determined to keep control of the sexual activity and ensure that he had a good first time. Shinji, on the other hand, felt that he was doing something wrong. Motoko had not made any extra sounds or squirming movements as he thought she would. Thinking that perhaps he need to lick harder and focus deeper in, he forced his tongue to do just that.

Again, Motoko's sensors were turned down too low for any major reaction, but the added vigorousness did feel nice. So nice that she began to moan a little as she sucked on Shinji's cock. This made him feel like he was starting to get the hang of things and he continued his oral assault. This went on for several minutes, the two of them licking and sucking on each other, their moans and wet sounds of oral sex filling the room as they slowly began to build towards orgasm. Motoko was building far slower then Shinji since she was not as sensitive and that was by her design. But she was becoming relaxed, too relaxed in fact, because she was beginning to lower her tail. She had kept it out of the way, but it was now sliding back to it's natural home between her legs, which was where Shinji was at the moment.

He felt the fine soft hairs of her tail touch his forehead. He didn't want to stop tonguing Motoko's pussy and stop her pleasure just to take care of a minor inconvenience, but it was a little irritating where it was. Shinji's arms were wrapped around her legs and his hands were lightly fondling her butt, so he decided it would be simple enough just to move it out of the way. Not knowing where exactly her tail was he reached up towards the base of her tail and starting from there, he ran his hand up her tail, tugging it slightly.

A Sireceien's tail, however, was extremely sensitive to touch and Shinji's act had done more than simply move it. Motoko, having forgotten to turn down her tail's sensitivity felt every moment of Shinji's grasp. The incredible sensation shot up through her spine and up to her mind, where it jumped around for a split second, as it set off all of the receptors. Her natural brain could not be controlled, once it was told it was in pleasure, it let it's master know.

"MMMmmmmaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHhhhhh!" Cried Motoko

She released his cock, unable to maintain her rhythm with the pleasant feeling of her tail being groped by the boy. Shinji, not knowing what he had done, removed his face from her clit.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Oh? You didn't do that on purpose, did you?" Motoko said as she realized the circumstances of the wonderful accident.

"No. You're not hurt bad are you?" He said worriedly.

"I'm not hurt at all, you just surprised me, that's all. Every girl likes a good tail tug. Can't be too rough though, but what you did was just prefect. A couple more like that and I could've cum." She explained.

"Right, sure. I can do that." Shinji thought aloud.

"Actually, I'm turning my sensors down on my tail, so don't worry about it." Said Motoko.

Before Shinji could ask why, Motoko re-engulfed his dick and returned to the rhythmic head and tongue movements. Soon Shinji was beginning to lose rational thought and relax into the erotic act, however, he wasn't completely ready to give up on pleasing the woman on top of him. He put his lips back on her lower lips and licked his way back in. She was even wetter then before and he could now taste all of her. For several minutes the two were linked like that, both using their mouths to give the other joy.

The room now filled with the moans and wet sucking sounds that came with sexual gratification. But although both were making noise, it was Shinji who made most of it. He was slowly losing control because of the oral sex and he would soon be unable to keep licking the woman's center. The sounds she made were a mere 'Mmmm' or two and since she had his sex in her mouth when she did it, it add to the great feeling. He was certain that she was doing it deliberately to heighten his excitement. It would not be long before Shinji would be a quivering mass under her body and under the control of her mouth.

Part of him did like the thought of her lips caressing his member to orgasm again, but another part felt a small pang of guilt at not returning the favor. Shinji could think of only one thing to do. He reached up and grabbed her tail again and began to stroke it. Although she could turn her senses down, Motoko could not completely turn them off. The combination of tail stroking and clit licking was having an effect. She could maintain her concentration, but was now approaching her own climax. This was not what she had planned to have happen.

She liked being in complete control of men (and women, for that matter), she liked being seen as a goddess of untamable carnal pleasure, and she liked cumming when she wanted to. But here she was, nearing her peak and all she could do was let it happen. Why was she so close? Partly because the earlier tail grab had heater her up, but it was also the fact that Shinji seemed unwilling to simply take a good fuck and suck as it came. He wasn't as wild or selfish as her other lovers. His gentle nature prevented him from enjoy sex so selfishly.

'I'm going to enjoy corrupting him!' Motoko schemed.

Her amusement grew as she felt the familiar twitching in his member associated with the beginnings of orgasm. She now bobbed her head with abandon to quicken the release. Shinji could no longer hold back his seed. All he could do was bury his face into Motoko's sex and cry out his instinct's approval. Motoko slowed the bobbing of her head, as she had before and let the cum shoot down her throat. There was less of it then before, but that did not bother either of them.

"HHHHhhhhMMMMmmmmmmmfffff!" Shinji's release was muffled be Motoko's body

'Motoko; two, Shinji; zero!' She thought to herself as if causing someone to orgasm were points in a game.

She was pleased that she was 'scoring' so well in her perverted game, but her lead was about to be cut in half. Shinji, unlike many men, did not lay down and relax into the feel of an orgasm. Instead, he continued to drive his tongue even more fiercely then he had been. He was urgently trying to make Motoko cum before he ran out of steam and would be unable to finish her. Motoko had not planned on the boy's ability to continue after he blew his load and was starting to move away from his face.

"Ah...easy...AAAhhh...Shinji!" Motoko felt her grip loosen

Shinji, determined to give back what he had received, held her in place. His hands reached up to her back to hold her down as she squirmed. Motoko could have easily escaped his grip, but not without hurting him, so she tried moving some in order to carefully break free. Still attempting to hold on, Shinji's hands roamed and soon found the base of her tail. Hoping that Motoko wasn't completely numb there, he grabbed it and began to stroke it repeatedly. Motoko knew she was finished now. The combination of oral sex and 'tail tugging' was too much.

"Ah...Aahh...AAAHHhhh...AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Motoko let out a powerful cry.

She felt Shinji lick and suck her love juice before he, at last, let go of her. Ironically, Motoko chose then to remain still. She may have wanted to choose when to cum, but whenever she came, she made sure to take it in and enjoy it. After a minute or so, she dismounted his face and laid down beside him. He was looking up at the ceiling, breathing in and out, and a look of contemplation adorned his face. Somehow Motoko managed to interpret the look.

"Didn't expect it to feel like that, huh?" She said

Shinji only nodded in reply

"Well that's why there is no substitute for the real thing. Nothing feels quite like it." She finished

Shinji closed his eyes, not to sleep, but to take it all in. Motoko gently rubbed his chest with her had allowing him to become completely relaxed. But only for a short time. She was not done with him. There was at least one more thing that had to be done before she could say she they had 'a good time'. She very softly blew into his ear and let her hand travel slowly southward. Shinji seemed to have little reaction to the sexual gesture, with the exception of his re-growing erection, which was all Motoko needed. As soon as it was semi-hard she decided that it was time. She brought her lips close to his ear and asked in her sexiest voice.

"So, is your cock ready for some pussy?" She whispered

Shinji was momentarily stunned. He knew there was a thing called 'technical virgin' and he understood what it meant. There was something about oral sex and intercourse that made them significantly different in the back of ones mind. Somehow going from one to the other could be a huge leap, but Shinji realized that the 'leap' depended on the situation. In this case, with his state of mind, and with this woman as a partner, the leap was fairly easy.

"Yeah...I'm ready." he said softly

Motoko smiled, both outwardly and inwardly. She felt she had him wrapped around her finger. Wasting no more time, she set about rewarding him for his submission. She again straddled him, only this time she was facing him and she was over top his fully hard penis. Motoko picked it up with her thumb and first two fingers. She stroked once or twice then positioned its head in line with the opening of her own sex. She looked at the boy's face and their eyes met. Motoko gave her usual sly smile, winked, then slid down onto his manhood.

The sudden sensation that shot from his groin to the rest of his body caused Shinji to throw his his head back onto the pillow. This felt incredible and different from being in her mouth. Warm, tight, and of course wet. Motoko continued somewhat slowly, since she wanted him to feel every inch of her and because she wanted to feel every inch of him. His width was slightly greater then most men, which felt good to her even with her sensors turned down. She fought the urge to turn them back up. She normally wouldn't even consider doing that, but it had been some time since her last (male) partner.

'Mmmm, I'm so in to the kid right now! I can't believe it, I shouldn't want it _this_ bad! It must have been too long since my last lover...last good one anyway. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers, besides this meat is almost filet mignon!' Motoko mused as she reached the hilt of his sword

When the sensation of motion on his member stopped, Shinji raised his head off the pillow to see what the rest of his body happily told him. He was inside of her; inside a woman's most sacred place and he found himself unable to look away from their pleasant union. Motoko didn't mind his gaze at all, although she did have to remind herself that this was likely the boy's first time with a woman and needed a supporting partner. A roll Motoko knew just how to play.

She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his head, but made sure not to obstruct his view of her cock filled cunt. She put her forehead on top of his head and spoke.

"This is how a man and woman communicate best. It's _soooo_ good for me Shinji! Thank you. Lets do this." She cooed

With that she straightened her back and used her legs to rise slightly off his body, half way up his phallus then back down. She made sure Shinji could see it happen to his dick; see that he was going in and out of her, like this was some kind of porno. He put his hands on her hips, for support, and began to push up into her. Soon the duo were in rhythm with each other; pushing away then back into each other in a tempo they felt comfortable with. The two continued to move slowly towards climax. There was no need to rush now that Shinji had cum twice. Now Motoko felt the desire to let loose and enjoy sex.

She closed her eyes as she tilted her head back slightly. She allowed soft moans and heavy breathing to escape her lips. Her hands began to roam her upper body squeezing her own breasts, running through her hair or sliding a finger across her lips. Motoko let herself be lost in the sensations coming from her groin without shame of being seen by her young partner. And seen she was. Shinji looked on amazed at the sight of the mature woman's enthrallment, and despite feeling every second of it he wondered.

'Am I really doing that to her? Is this really sex between a man and a woman?' Shinji pondered

Shinji felt his right hand begin to leave its spot on Motoko's hips and travel up towards her large breasts. He had felt them on his member, but his hand, as if with a mind of its own, wanted to grasp one of the soft orbs. His hand spread its fingers out as it slid across her belly; the thumb dipping into her belly button, before following the rest of the hand upward. Soon the hand and it fingers were wrapped around the prize they sought and squeezing it firmly. Motoko did not seem to mind, in fact, Shinji would have thought that she didn't notice at all if not for the added moaning he heard when he started messaging her breast.

Motoko appreciated the way that her left breast was being touched so much that she gave her right breast the same treatment. The sight of Motoko pleasing herself in concert with the actions of his right hand made Shinji's other hand feel left out, so it too traveled the same path up her body and up to a breast. Motoko allowed him to now take full charge of groping her chest, while she continued to pump up and down on top of him.

They remained like that for several minutes; Motoko riding his cock, while Shinji played with her tits. Motoko was content to let an orgasm (who's ever it was) happen that way, but Shinji, caught up in Motoko's boobs, adjusted his position. This had caused a momentary pause in pumping in his hips and made Motoko open her eyes slightly. Shinji was now in a sitting up position and his head was now level with her breasts. Motoko placed a hand on the back part of his head where his head a neck met to support him.

'Yeah that's the way. Let it happen.' She though encouragingly

Shinji wrapped his arms around Motoko, put one of her tits in his mouth and resumed his thrusting motion. Motoko's moans were now a little louder and deeper. She still had some control. but was glad that he had shown such initiative. Shinji found he liked the taste and feel of her tit as he rolled it around in his mouth and it was clear Motoko liked what he did too. He every so often would switch to its mate to make sure that the intensity of pleasure was maintained. He also rubbed her back to heighten the experience as much as possible. It was while doing this that Shinji remembered the tail and realized he could grab it in this position. Dropping his hand, he relocated the tail and began to stroke again. Motoko was even more vocal than ever.

"AAAHHH! SHINJI! YES! YES! THAT'S IT! JUST LIKE THAT!" Motoko spurred him on

Now without any remaining inhibitions left in either of them, their humping became more rapid as each tried to get themselves and the other off. Motoko slowly allowed the sensors to gain sensitivity as the intensity of the sex grew. She wanted to make sure that they came together, that was the best way to have an orgasm. Motoko leaned back and pulled Shinji with her so that he was now on top. He was no longer able to grip her tail, but that now no longer mattered.

They were now just slaves to their sexual desire and only one motion could satisfy their master; thrusting. Motoko returned her sensors to normal as she wrapped her legs around Shinji's hips giving him better access to her deep nether region. He pumped harder and faster then he had before. Their arms held each other tight to their bodies, crushing her breasts against his chest. He was groaning loudly and screamed without restraint. It may have only lasted a minute, but it's delightful nature made it worth every second. After that wonderful minute, they felt the onset of orgasm and let the other know of it.

"YES! SHINJI, FUCK YES! OH GOD! OH GOD! OH...OH...OHAAAAAAAHHHHHH"  
"MOTOKO! OH MOTOKO! I...I...AHH! AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The pulse of climax throbbed and squeezed at the place of their union, bring them down slowly from the bliss they felt. Neither moved to separate their sexes. They remained entangled in each other for several minutes as they listened to their breathing. After a few minutes Motoko unwrapped her legs, but did not remove her hands. She wanted to let him know he was free to move, not indicate he should get off. Another two minutes would pass before Shinji stirred. A thought had just crossed his mind that worried him.

"I just came inside you! Does that mean you'll get pregnant?!" He asked worriedly but still monotone in voice

"Huh? Oh! No, I'm a full cyborg, I don't have reproductive organs." She said calmly

"Oh...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to bring that up." He said somewhat softly

The Major looked him in the eye, not sure what he had meant. It took a moment to realize that he thought she was upset about not being able to have children. To be honest such a thing had never occurred to her and she felt no need to worry about it. With adoption or artificial uterus, even a person who couldn't naturally produce one could have a kid. She realized though that Shinji was probably still concerned and she didn't want to end this on a bad note.

"You're so sweet." She said as she kissed him

It was, at first, a soft gentle kiss. Only their lips made contact with each other. But a few seconds later they began to press slightly harder as the mood went from sweet to passionate. The two felt a warm and comfortable bond, not love, but a casual intimacy, reflected in the kiss that soon became lustful as their tongues left their own mouths for a new one. As the two tongues danced and dueled with one another, Motoko became aware of a movement in her center. A forming erection.

'So little Shinji still wants to play huh? Well I'm game! Let get wild!' She thought

Motoko deepened the, already intense, kiss and began to rub his back. If a man wanted her more then once, she was sure to oblige. But as she began to spread and raise her legs to re-envelop his waist and restart the whole build to bliss, Shinji broke the kiss.

"Motoko?" He asked in a somewhat familiar tone

Looking up, She could see that his face was like the one he had when he had asked for a 'Lover's Loop' and having done just about every sex position known to the galaxy, she knew he'd be hard pressed to name something she wouldn't try and/or enjoy doing.

"Yes lover." She said in her sweetest voice

"Could we...I don't know if the term is right, but...could we...animal style?"

Shinji was barely able to make eye contact from shyness and concern that he offended her, but Motoko was not upset in the least. She knew exactly what Shinji wanted and understood that some women wouldn't want to, but she wasn't one of them. And a position like that was great for making a guy feel like a man. She had no problem adding excitement to her voice

"You bet! I love animal! It so hot!" She said as moved into position

"Then can I ask one more thing?"

Motoko was slightly amused that the boy had lost so much inhabitation. What more would the boy ask for? To do it in the shower? Put his finger where it _didn't_ belong? Find another girl for a threesome? She had done stranger and the list of things she hadn't done was short.

"Sure. I like your ideas. What do you want?" She asked

"Turn your sensors all the way up." He said

On the ever so short list of things she'd never done and would take pause to think about it, that was one of them. She had always started off with her sensors down and only turned them up when she was approaching climax. Furthermore, she had left her highest sensitivity for when she was alone and had no time to find a partner. What he was asking was to surrender all control and let him fuck her like an animal until he came, and letting go of that much control was something she'd never considered.

'Damn why can't the kid take a good piece of tail and leave like all guys' She thought before speaking "Look, Shinji, maybe that's not such a good idea."

"Why? Would it hurt?" He asked, monotone voiced

"No, definitely not, but..." she tried to reason

"So then lets do it. I want to thank you for this afternoon and this, I think, is the best way. Not to mention, why wouldn't you let yourself feel it in the best way?" Shinji concluded

She opened her mouth to say something, but had no reply. It was now her turn to ask 'Why not?' Shinji was unselfish and caring in spite of his E.S. And the only thing she had ever worried about was one of her partners being too wild and forgetting to be gentle at times, but this was beyond unlikely with him. With no excuse, other than "I just don't want to!" which was rude and would hurt the boy, She nodded and moved onto all fours. She felt the bed shift as Shinji moved behind her.

"Now Shinji! You need to go slow at first. I'm not sure how this is gonna play out ok?" Motoko warned

Although he didn't make a sound, the fact that he had stopped told her he understood. With that she pushed her sensitivity all the way up. She could have lied and said that she had, rather than actually do it, but she never liked the concept of faking, plus curiosity, as to how this might feel, got the better of her. She nodded and Shinji positioned himself behind her. Motoko did her best relax as she felt the tip of his penis push against her lower lips.

The slow but continuous thrust in was agonizingly wonderful. Motoko let out a long moan as his dick went deeper and deeper, exciting every nerve ending in her cunt as it went, until Shinji reached his hilt. Motoko was now panting. She could feel his rapid pulse through his manhood and it kept her womanhood excited even though he was stationary. Shinji, however, did not remain still for very long. As soon as her was sure he was not hurting her he began to pull his hips back.

It was slightly faster than the inward thrust and the act of the head being pulled the other way gave it a pleasant resistance to it's removal. This caused Motoko's arms to buckle, so she went from her hands to her elbows. The moderate change in angle did not impede Shinji's next thrust, which increased in speed and was complimented with a synchronized tug on her tail. Motoko let out a powerful cry of delight as she felt herself approach her point of no return.

He continued to gradually quicken his pace to get into a rhythm with her when her body suddenly became a little more rigid and he felt the walls of her sex begin to squeeze his cock. Shinji had come to understand that this was her orgasm, but was not entirely sure if he should continue pumping or not. Deciding she might like him to stop moving he pushed all the way in and halted, but kept stroking her tail. Her sex continued to convulse for nearly a minute before they relaxed completely. Motoko felt the calm of after sex begin to blanket her body as her heavy breathing slowed.

But Motoko was no longer master of her passion. She had tasted an ecstasy she hadn't had in more years than she'd ever admit to and she wanted more of it. With her desire out of control she now commanded him to giver her more.

"Shinji!...*huff*...Do it again!...*huff*...Only this time don't stop!...Don't stop till you cum!...And do it harder...and faster!" She ordered.

Shinji complied. He was still hard and since he had had his release three times already, he wasn't close to having another orgasm yet. He pushed in again, this time with a little more force and speed. He also began stroking her tail in rhythm to his hip's thrust and she again began to scream with delight.

"FUCK YES! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! YES! YES! IT'S GOOD! AAAAAAHHHHH! SO GOOD! OH FUCK IT'S GOOD!" Motoko cried

She bucked her hips wildly against Shinji's and soon the youth was beginning to feel a build up in pressure. But the heightened pleasure of Motoko's sensors pushed her over the edge faster than Shinji could reach his. As he felt her squeezing his manhood he began to slow again. He remembered what Motoko asked him, but thought she meant to keep going after each climax, not plough on through.

"NO! KEEP IT UP! FUCK ME EVEN HARDER WHEN I'M CUMMING! PLEASE!" She practically begged him

Shinji pounded even harder into her and kept stroking her tail. As he felt the clenching of her sex relax he returned to his original pace, but now he too was feeling the need to release again. The sight and sound of a woman possessed by lust was a true turn on and even the E.S. could not stop his hormones from raging. Soon his penis began to ache as it filled with seed, but he held back. He was determined to get one more orgasm out of her before he finished.

It wasn't long before her words were again incoherent as she approached her end.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! FFFFUUUCCCKKKK! OOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed

Her third orgasm, with it's wet clenching feel was too much for Shinji to bear any longer. He grunted slightly as his manhood began to pulse once again, filling his partner with semen. The hot fluid filling Motoko's pussy added to her climax, keeping her in a high for a few more seconds. After that, the throbbing and clenching of their intercourse finally subsided. Motoko allowed her body to fall forward into a lying down position, and Shinji's body followed and rested on top of her. They were still joined together. Both of them liked feel of after sex while still connected.

It was several minutes before Motoko stirred. She started to feel uncomfortable with the youth laying on her in that position. She began to turn her body slightly so look back at him and ask him, but as soon as she moved, Shinji rolled to the side now putting them in a more comfortable spooning position. Motoko brought his hand around her so he could grope her chest to his liking. As he was began to gently fondle her left breast he slowly felt his hardness return.

The tip of his penis never left the petals of her body, as a result it naturally pushed in as it hardened. Being unable to think of a new position and not really wanting to get out of the one they were in, Shinji pushed upward into her from the spooning position. Motoko had turned her sensors down to just below normal. She wanted to save 'a whole night of fucking on full sensors' for another time, but wanted to enjoy anything else the boy wanted to do to her, and spooning wasn't a bad idea at all.

Motoko, without saying a word, raised up her leg to give Shinji better access. He, in turn, held her leg up and put his chin on her shoulder, bringing his face close to hers. He continued to thrust into he and she back. There was heavy breathing, but no wild screams or yells, only the occasional sharp inhale of breath or grunt as sparks of pleasure ran through them. Passion still dictated their actions, however, they were no longer enslaved to a feeling of lust, rather a more intimate desire to be with each other.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the two climbed their way back up to their peak. They were so in tune with each other that they approached the edge at the same rate, and toppled over it together. Again, there were no screams or cries, only elongated grunts and held breaths as the two felt a strange bliss that neither was too accustom to. Shinji did not stay still long. Only a minute had passed before he began kissing Motoko's neck.

The kisses from the boy kept Motoko's arousal up and Shinji's body was still feeling the cravings for intimate contact, but also exhaustion. He could see her body writhe in response to his touch and it egged him on for one last round. Shinji forced his body to move once more and put himself over top of Motoko and she again spread her legs for him. He was only mostly hard now, the events had taken their toll on the boy, but he managed to push in to her one last time.

As his hips rocked back and fourth in the classic missionary position, their eyes met. It was the first time the to gazed into each others eyes while they were joined. Shinji saw that she was truly enjoying the experience and in his eyes she could see how relaxed she made him, but also how tired he was. Motoko could feel the pace of his hips slow and become more arrhythmic. She wasn't too surprised, since he was young and lacked a prosthetic body, but she wanted him to finish this last round.

She could think of only one thing to do to keep him going. She kissed him. She kissed very few of her partner while they were having intercourse and it was only partners she liked. She didn't know why she had come to have such an affection for this boy, but in any case she received the reaction she was looking for as his pace picked back up. They continued with the passionate kissing and sex for a few minutes before their last orgasm.

It came over them gently like a small wave from the ocean tide. Shinji was now depleted of strength and his hands, which supported him now began to wobble. He started to move off of her, but Motoko had other ideas. She wrapped her hands around his neck and her legs around his waist, and brought his body back to hers. She placed his head on her breast, the left side of his head, which contained the E.S. faced up.

He was too tired to resist the move and simply settled into the soft curves of her body. Motoko watched as Shinji fought the urge to fall asleep. The mature woman had had men fall asleep on her before, sometimes after only one go (which pissed her off). However, she had been prepared for the possibility that the inexperienced youth would fall victim to a one shot knock out, and since he'd done so well, Motoko was more than happy to let him rest.

"Ssshhh. Don't fight it, just let go. It's ok, you did great. It felt so good, rest now." Motoko said in a soothing tone

Soon Shinji's eyes, which had been opening and closing as he began to nod off, closed and did not open and his breathing became very soft and quiet. Motoko stroked the side of his face as he slept, feeling the dots on the E.S. as she did. Doctor Mutio had warned her that the mix of emotional medication and sex assister medication would be burned through very quickly, but that Motoko should not worry. The emotions that Shinji might experience during sex, were ok and that he could use his regular medication when they were finished.

Motoko continued to stroke Shinji's face with one hand and put her other up behind her head. She thought back on all of the fun they had just had, as the minute ticked by and Shinji continued to sleep. To her, people who went through traumatic experiences were the most intense in bed, but Shinji still surprised her at how good it had been with him. Perhaps not the greatest fuck she had ever had, but it was a 'Top five' contender, that was for certain. She wondered what would this boy be like when his body became that of a man. Her thoughts became a lewd fantasy as time went on.

Shinji watched as colors danced in his eyes. There were no real shapes, just a messy kaleidoscope of images. Slowly they fade into a blurry white light and then into recognizable objects. It didn't take him long to remember where he was, and more importantly, who he was with. Shinji lifted his head off of her warm breasts to look up at her. She was already peering down at him. They merely looked at each other, not saying anything for a minute. Shinji, who had never been all that strong in eye contact, broke it and began to look around. He continued his aimless eye wandering until he saw the wall mounted clock.

"Is...is that clock right?" he asked

"Yep, we've been here for almost hour, and you've only slept that last twenty minutes of it, so the rest of it was you getting your freak on you big stud." Motoko said in an amused voice.

Despite her best efforts, Shinji was not, himself, amused. Although being in Motoko's arms and resting on her supple body was a paradise many men did not know, Shinji began to rise. Though she knew that their time was at an end, Motoko made a small protest.

"Hey wait, there's no rush. We could probably stay another hour. I doubt that Teoro guy minds." She said

"I know, but there are other stores I need to get to before the day is over." explained Shinji

With that said Motoko untangled her limbs from around him and allowed him up. Shinji's leg muscles ached slightly. The ach was an odd mixture of that 'just woke up pain' and the feel of moderate exercise, but he stretched them out quickly enough. His next order of business was to locate his pants and boxers, which were together on top of a dresser across the room. However, Shinji had not yet seen them when Motoko began to rise.

Looking around the room at the mess of cloths she thought to herself 'Well this was fun! I honestly didn't think I'd be this satisfied, damn I really scored with him...score...Oh Damn it!'

Thinking back over the last hour she took count of their orgasms. She knew that she had cum seven times, but she was certain Shinji had only cum six times, giving him a one 'point' lead. Motoko had lost before, but only in instances where her partners were young health experienced men or women, and it was usually a threesome or some other kind of orgy. To lose to a boy who'd just had his first time with her, would be an embarrassing loss, in her mind.

She had come to the conclusion that his 'high score' had come from her letting him have his way with her, though the size of his penis didn't hurt. But whatever the reason, Motoko could not allow for a loss and thought quickly for an answer. Shinji, by this point, had seen his pants on the dresser and was moving towards them, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. he turned in the direction of the touch, but was confused for a moment when he did not see Motoko when he turned around.

The lower peripherals of his sight caught a glimpse of hair and he directed his gaze there. Motoko was on her knees before Shinji's phallus and her face was less than an inch away. She wrapped her arms around his body and placed her hands on his butt cheeks. Again, their eyes met.

"Hey! How about one more quick blow, before we blow?" She asked with a smile

"Oh...sure." Shinji said

He doubted a few more minutes would matter and they had already done that and more, so letting it happen one last time was not a major issue to Shinji. This, however, was not the lavishing and caressing oral sex he'd had earlier. Motoko was determined to get him off as quickly as possible and used her tongue and mouth with haste and power. Motoko's favorite way to give head was with a nice steady climb in pressure followed by an explosive finish and she knew the combination of head bobs and tongue positions to make it happen.

But Motoko also knew the places on a man's penis to get him to pop more rapidly. If one was unprepared, like Shinji was, the burst of speed was quite the shock, all be it a pleasant one. Shinji would have toppled over from the sensation of feeling a wet mouth followed instantly by air and repeated every second, had Motoko not had a firm grip on his lower body. Shinji's hands went uncontrollably to the top of her head.

"M-M-M-MOTOK-K-KO I I I AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" He tried and failed to speak

Shinji's hands remained on her head as she bobbed back and forth on him. Motoko soon felt the familiar twitching in his man hood that indicated it was ready to blow. With a few more licks and head bobs the last of Shinji's seed came forth. His cry, this time, was silent as all of his remaining strength was gone. Shinji leaned over slightly, Motoko's head was still below his waste as she waited for him to recover from her 'attack'.

After a minute, Shinji righted himself and Motoko released his penis. Shinji, having some difficulty standing on his wobbly legs, managed to get his pants and boxers from off the dresser and put them on. Motoko had left Shinji's side without saying a word and gone to the pile of cloths next to the bed a split them up into two piles. One hers, the other was his. As she began to dress she looked over at Shinji as he approached the pile containing the rest of his cloths.

'Well a tie _game_ is better then a loss. Although, in the future I wouldn't mind losing on purpose.' She thought as she slipped on her jacket.

Less than a minute later, the duo were standing outside the door to the room and walking towards the stairway. Motoko left for only a moment to return the key and was back at Shinji's side in no time. Before they started walking towards the main street Shinji spoke up.

"Moto...I mean Major..." He said remembering she had told him earlier

"Motoko is still fine, till we get to the main street." She said as she put an arm around him.

"Why did you accept Mutio's request to do this? She was the one to give you the meds, so I know she was involved. Still you didn't have to do this." He looked at her for her response

Kusanagi, however, did not give her reasoning very quickly. She looked as though Shinji had just asked her what the most complicated question in the world and was trying to find the right words to use to explain the answer. It took her a moment, but she finally did answer.

"Well, actually Mutio didn't ask me to have sex with you. See, she only asked to tag along so she could do it, but when I found out what she was planning I took the meds from her and said that the location of the Star Grasper was a secret and only I could do you...She pissed." Kusanagi finished.

She looked at Shinji. Even though he was generally emotionless she could see a clear hint of surprise in his eyes.

"Like I said, it's been a long time since I've been with a guy, and you were in even worse need of the opposite sex than me so I figured why not." She finished

Shinji was still in a state of slight shock as Motoko began to walk away. But before she took a second step she turned and brought her face close to his ear and whispered.

"_Oh, and after that performance you can come to me anytime you need it. And maybe I'll even tell you my all time favorite position._" She said

And with that, she turned and headed toward the main street, with the still speechless Shinji following behind

**End Of Omake**

* * *

**Credits**

Shinji = _Neon Genesis Evangelion_

Teoro = _Utawarerumono_

Major Motoko Kusanagi = _Ghost in the Shell S.A.C._

**Closing Notes**

Oh man! Sorry I have had very little time to get these done. Anyways that's the omake style I'm trying out, let me know what you think

Thanks for reading. _Zidane Ace._


	6. Chapter 5

**WARNING:** This fan-fic _will_ contain violence, language, adult themes, angst, names of made up alien people, items, worlds, etc and cameos from other anime and TV shows. It could also contain depictions of nudity and sex later on, so brace yourself!

Disclaimer: Guess what?! I own absolutely nothing contained in this fan-fic! Be it Eva or any other show I will give credit to.

_**Evangelion: The Death God War**_

**Chapter:5 Once a warrior...**

On almost all planets in the Cluster Worlds there exist an area (or areas) where technology simply ceases to function. Some scientists have speculated that this is because some anomaly prevents electrical currents from forming, however, lightning storms have been observed in these areas that occur no less frequently or more frequently, than outside the area. Furthermore, even simple technology that does not require electricity, such as gunpowder, is also rendered inoperable. Since sophisticated scanning and research equipment cannot be used, scientists have had to resort to collecting samples from within the affected area and study them, but nothing has yet yielded clues as to the phenomenon's existence. Many species and cultures have come to call these areas home. Some, have done so simply because it was always there home, others to escape an advanced enemy that threatened to destroy them. The most famous instance of these escapes lead to the discovery of these areas. A fleet of battleships was sent out to conquer a simple tribe that had fled the tyranny of the attacking nation. As the ships approached shore, they entered the area causing their fusion reactors to go dead. The simple tribe counter attacked and killed most of the attacking troops. When a survivor was asked what the area felt like, he replied "It was quiet...just quite." Since then, these areas have been called Silencing Zones.

* * *

Kusanagi exited the elevator onto the crowded medical level. Everyone was making noise and if you weren't shouting orders to a nurse or calling a doctor, you were coughing, and coughing hard. Most of the people here were Palace staff, but there were also many soldiers and knights who were stationed outside the Palace. They had been sent here when they fell ill. The disease, whatever it was, had swept through the main bulk of the city's garrison. Most of the city's populace had escaped the disease by staying indoors, but at least a third had fallen victim to it. As the Major passed a room packed with the ill, the lights flickered over head.

'Every fucking time it does that I wonder if it'll go out permanently.' Worried the Major

The illness the Tree itself suffered had infected 75% of the trunk, 50% of it's limbs and 20% of the roots. The caretakers that were still health, managed to contain them to the areas most effected and cordoned off the blackened zones of the Tree. But that was just a stop-gap measure. The Major silently cursed herself for having raised the shield and trapping themselves with the poisoned atmosphere. And it wasn't just Capitol city either. Any city that had formed at the base of a tree now faced a similar fate. This left them unable to come to their aid.

The Imperial troops had only besieged their city, but that was enough. The enemy troops had formed a line around the city just out of range of the mid-ranged guns. The plasma howitzers still worked, but any usage of the energy based weapons caused the infection to spread. The only way to guarantee sustained use was to drop the hyper-field and use the lines of energy that were deep within the tree itself. Of course this left the city completely defenseless to the sky from their airborne transport and indirect fire from their short barrel conventional howitzers. If her troops were healthy she would do it to draw in troops, fight them in close, then re-raise the hyper-field, but of course that wasn't an option. In short the city was going to sit in defense mode until a plan was formed or until the Tree died and left them helpless.

'There's gott'a be a way to evacuate the city.' Motoko thought to herself

But the Imperial line had inadvertently cut off the secret passages into the city. At least the Major hoped so. She couldn't tell if they were oblivious to the passages' locations or they were not entering them intentionally, since they would then face the plague that now attacked the city. Either way, death had them by the jugular with no means of escape or retaliation.

The Major turned a corner in the medical level and could now see the door to the princess's room. Most people were crowded three to a room but no one complained when she was given her own room. Of course that was little comfort to anyone. The thought of the nation's beloved young princess slowly dying was painful. The morbid thought made her wonder who was suffering most; The Queen, her or Shinji. Even with the E.S. on his head it was hard to imagine him not being effected at all by another brutal loss.

As the Major entered the room she caught sight of the boy in question. He seemed to be indifferent to the heartbreaking scene. There were two beds, one empty and devoid of equipment, the other was it's exact opposite. Eruru was huddled over the sleeping form of her sister and doctor Mutio was near the monitor and medicine control dispenser adjusting the dosage going into the young girl's body. Motoko stood next to Shinji. He still wore his flight suit which was now stained with blood from where Aruru had coughed on him as he carried her here. Motoko could do nothing, nor say anything to ease the tension as the scene in the room unfolded.

"Aruru?...Aruru try to hold on. The doctors have something to slow it down. You have to fight it, please fight it." the Queen whispered to the girl

"The medication's pretty heavy...She's going to be sleeping most of the time." said Mutio

"I have to do something! I can't...sitting here can't be all I can do!" Eruru said with distress

Motoko interjected "You should head back to the throne room. Try to let the people know your not giving up and they shouldn't either."

"My sister isn't in the throne room!" Eruru's voice began to pick up anger

The Queen now stood and paced some. Her fears and agitation were visible to all, but none could think of a way to pacify her. Unfortunately Motoko knew what came next. Although it was extremely rare, Eruru sometimes would get so upset she would verbally lash out at anything. She usually made up for it later, but it was no picnic going through it. The Major had been the one to take them most often (better her then anyone else) but anyone was open to receive the verbal battery. Sadly it would Shinji's turn this time.

"I need a minute with Shinji!" She commanded

Kusanagi realizing where this was headed tried to stop it, but Eruru immediately pointed at the door indicating that she could not be swayed. Motoko closed her eyes. If the situation did not demand that she be needed everywhere or be doing something to help the cause, she would have stayed to protect the boy. But she could not and, with Mutio in tow, she left the room and Shinji to his fate. After a few steps down the hall, hopefully out of ear shot, the Major turned to Mutio.

The Aquilian had a puzzled and somewhat worried look, as well she should. Motoko knew she wouldn't like what Eruru was doing, but the Major needed information out of her, and that meant that Shinji would have to suffer for a few minutes. She had too many lives and too little time to worry about the potential mental damage of being yelled at would bring, as she was sure Mutio would be. No they could deal with that later, right now they had a city to save.

"What is this thing?" Motoko asked plainly

"I'm not sure." Mutio said shaking off her concern for Shinji "It attacks the lungs pretty quickly and as soon as it does the entire body gets weak, very weak. After that it progresses pretty slowly." She finished

"How slowly?" The Major asked, in need of a time limit for victims

"Well if left untreated I say about a month and a half, but that all depends on how badly the initial infection, strength of the infected and quality of care." Mutio said as impartial as a doctor could be.

"What does that mean for Aruru?" Motoko asked the heaviest of questions

Mutio shrugged slightly "Well in the case of the princess, she's~~"

Mutio was interrupted by the calls of another patient. Not one sickened by the disease, but her original patient.

"Doc. Doctor!" Shinji called out somewhat urgently.

Worried that something had happened to Aruru, both Mutio and Motoko raced back into the room and were confronted with a new drama.

===== In the room, a few minutes earlier ======

As soon as Motoko and Mutio had left the room, the distraught Queen began her tirade.

"Where were you?! You were suppose to be by her side!" She spat

"We were just watching the workers~~" Shinji tried to explain

"Watching!? While this was going on?!" She snapped

"No it just happened. Everything was fine for a minute and~~" He tried again

"And then they weren't! You should have gotten to the ship sooner!" She continued to plow into him

"We tried but~~!" Shinji began to sound more defensive

"Tried?! Tried! Trying is useless unless you succeed!" She nearly screeched

"What was I suppose to do?" Shinji asked both confused and somewhat angry despite the E.S.

"DO?! Besides get Aruru sick!? You should have...*cough*...have...*cough*...ha*cough**cough*!" She began it wobble

She put her hand on Shinji's shoulder for balance as the coughing got worse. Her other hand was up at her mouth. Shinji had looked on for a moment and was about to ask if she was alright, but before he could, a powerful cough brought blood. The act was so violent that the blood went around her fingers and onto Shinji's already blood stained flight suit. There was a pause, as both of their brains tried to register what had just happened.

"...Brother?..." Eruru said meekly

She stared at her blood covered hand as she said this, then her legs gave out. The hand on Shinji's shoulder lost its grip and began to slide away with its master, fortunately Shinji grabbed her arm before she fell away completely and pulled her into his arms. The dead weight of the falling Queen prevented Shinji from remaining upright. He instead guided her slowly to the floor. As soon as he made sure his grip on her weak body was firm, he called out for help.

"Doc! Doctor!" He called

A split second later Mutio, followed closely by the Major, entered the room. Their first glace was toward the bed which contained Aruru, but they soon saw the real reason for the distressed call. Motoko looked on somewhat stunned as if this situation should have been impossible. Mutio stepped over the crouched pair, towards the medicine cabinet on the other side of the room. Shinji continued to cradle the young woman as the doctor returned with some form of injector, doubtlessly filled with some kind of medication.

"It's hit her hard!" Mutio realized

"Alright, lets get her into the bed and get her going on meds." Said the Major, brushing off her sense of shock

Shinji began to lift her as the Major came over to help, but Eruru had other ideas. She shifted her weight some to stop their actions.

"No. Take me to the throne room." She said her, voice cracking and barely above a whisper

"Malady you're ill! You need rest!" Mutio explained

"Others can handle the situation now. We need you rested for later." Motoko tried to comfort her

But Eruru would not be swayed

"I must not be put down by this before the fight has begun." She said trying to act strong

She looked to the faces of Motoko and Mutio, both seemed resolute in keeping her here. She, however need to lead and there was one left she could plea to.

"Please...Brother...I must walk out of here. If I do not, the hope of all outside this room maybe lost. Please brother, please." She said looking him in the eye

Shinji was unreadable. She was uncertain that her pleas could touch him through the E.S., or that he didn't stand with the doctor and Major, or, worst of all, that her cruel words had hurt and turned him away from him. With the hand closest to his body, she gripped the front of his flight suit, through it she felt the shape of his pendent. Shinji looked down at her hand then back up at her. Her eyes now pleaded her case, they begged him for help. Shinji closed his eyes, shrugged, then pulled the hand off his flight suit.

The fear that he was about to reject her was soon gone as he took the hand and arm attached to it and put it around his neck. He then sat her up and moved his feet underneath him in preparation to stand them up. Motoko, on the other hand, was not going to let their ill ruler walk away from medical care. She stood in the doorway to block their exit.

"Now you wait one damn minute!" She said angrily

But the two were soon standing. Eruru moved her arm from the back of Shinji's neck to his arm and wrapped it in his, in the manner of an escort. They took a slow step towards the door and the Major. Putting on her most serious face, she looked the older woman in the the eye and spoke in a firm and determined voice.

"Major! Obey my orders!" She said

Her tone and words were unmistakable and unyielding. Their was no argument to be had, she was leaving and she could go with her or stay here in protest. Motoko stood aside and they continued out the door. Mutio looked as though she would protest, but a look to Kusanagi told her of the act's futility. So she picked up all of her medical gear and gave chase behind Kusanagi. Eruru leaned into Shinji slightly and grabbed him with her other had for added support. She felt as if she were on a boat in a violent storm, but Shinji marched on towards the elevator. Everyone on the level was too sick or too busy to see that their Queen was somewhat woozy and were oblivious to her 'casual' exit.

Once in the elevator Eruru slumped across Shinji's body as he held her up. Motoko and Mutio moved around her, but other than administer some kind of medicine, nothing else could be done. The elevator opened up to a long hallway, which would normally be crowded, but was now deserted. At the end of the corridor, the large double doors were pushed open by the two healthy women as Shinji, Queen in his arms, made his way to the stylized throne that resembled a tree covered in jewels. Shinji carefully set Eruru down and did not release her until she was seated comfortably.

"Brother, my crown. It's in the back room please retrieve it." Eruru said, her strength fading again.

Shinji walked around behind the throne and found a doorway. The room it lead to was almost a small bedroom, with an open closet, bed and dresser. A faceless bust sported the crown. The head band was clear so as to be invisible when worn. The white gold crown itself had a crescent moon shape that sat horizontally with the center over top the forehead and the ends stopping before reaching the ears. At the center of the crescent a second arc lead up and ended over top the head.

He grabbed it and made his way out the door. Rejoining the group he found Mutio over the Queen checking her vitals. Shinji worried that the weight of the crown might be to much for her weakened state, so he held it until she reached for it. Everyone had simply given up trying to argue with her, so they let her put the crown upon her head, which (as Shinji had feared) prevented her from keeping it up right. Shinji put his hands on her head and lifted it up for her. Eruru took a deep breath, then began to touch some of the jewels on the arm rests of the throne.

The disguised buttons controlled a camera, which detached from its holding recess in the ceiling and hovered down to the eye level of the Queen. Pressing more jewel like buttons a screen appeared out of thin air. It showed the view from the camera, which was the sitting Queen, Mutio and Shinji holding her head. Eruru adjusted the zoom so that only her head and shoulders were visible. Only one issue remained, Shinji's hands. She took a deep breath, then reached up and grabbed his hand and pulled it down, but did not release it. She gripped it tight as she fought to keep her head up. The she pressed the record button.

"Citizens of Materia Lake City and any city that hears this message. By now you are no doubt aware of the attack on our home by the Imperial forces of the Death Gods. They have come to enslave us again. They have unleashed a plague in hopes of destroying us, as well as send a garrison of troops to besiege the Capitol. But our defenses are holding. We will not let our freedom be snuffed out here. We will weather this and return to our lives. Please do not give up hope. We will live on!"

With the speech done she shut off the camera and hit send. Shinji immediately took the crown off her head with his free hand. This made Motoko wince due to the fact that holding the crown of a royal was consider a supreme honor for a Sireceien and he was holding it rather nonchalantly. But now was not the time to worry about such things. Still clenching her younger brother's hand she looked at Motoko and the doctor.

"So, where do we stand?" She asked

"The enemy troops are all Ko-Dan, a non hue type and ugly too. They have a line that's packed in tight enough to prevent a large force from wiggling in, but wide enough so that their troops can move through the camp. Real professional." The Major explained "The disease has hit about 20% of the city, mostly the Palace and city wall defenders." She finished

"It's some kind of a spore which causes immediate muscle weakness and breathing trouble. It seems geared toward Sireceien anatomy; a Ko-Dan's body would probably be completely unaffected. Oddly though, it takes a while to do lethal damage to the body. As long as a victim has medical attention they have at least two months." Said Mutio

"So, given the fact that they're trying to weaken us, rather than use another pathogen to kill us, that means there should be some kind of cure right?" concluded Motoko

Mutio just shrugged. The Major looked at her then at Shinji. Both of them seemed fine, which made her wonder if they were immune. She had guessed that the reason she was still standing was because of her prosthetic body. The thought that prosthetics might be the answer was in her mind for only a moment. Even if they had enough doctors and prosthetic lungs and muscles for everyone, and enough time to put everyone through the four to five hour long surgery, the weakened state of those already affected made a dangerous surgery ten times as hazardous.

"Is it possible that whatever immunities you and Shinji have can be administered to the rest of us Dr. Mutio?" The Queen asked

"Unfortunately, neither of us are actually immune. Our anatomy is just different and that's slowing it down, but I tested our blood and we've got the illness. We may never get weakened by it, but it will still probably kill us eventually." Mutio finished

Eruru squeezed Shinji's hand, as if he was the one in need of comfort. But if Shinji could feel anything, fear of death was not likely to be among the list of negative emotions he was prone to feeling. Still he returned the hand squeeze to ease her mind.

"Doctor, I believe that the Major is right. To use a disease like this, rather than something more traditional must mean that there is some kind of treatment. Please do not give up your search until it is found." The Queen commanded.

Mutio nodded and headed for the door. Before the Doctor left, Eruru focused her attention on Kusanagi.

"I want you to find a way to strike back at them. It doesn't have to completely destroy them, just harass them enough to slow them down." She commanded

The Major saluted and followed the Doctor out the door. As soon as the massive double doors closed Eruru slumped back into the throne. Shinji was worried for a moment, but after a minute of rest she began to stand up. Eruru was so wobbly that she nearly fell over. Fortunately Shinji helped her to keep her balance as they made their way to the back room. The bed in the back room was only five feet or so from the door, but for the Queen it felt like she was climbing a mountain. She was thankful when she finally did reach the bed and lie down. Once the ill Queen was off her feet, Shinji returned the crown to it's home on the dresser. He turned around to look at the Queen and found one of her hands outstretched to him; asking him to return to her side.

Their eyes met as he took hold of her hand. The E.S. he wore prevented him from having emotion, but he could still recognize the emotion of others. Shinji could plainly see guilt in her eyes. Shinji, never truly being one to hold a grudge, did not understand the source of this guilt until Eruru told him.

"Oh dear brother, in the hospital...those words I spat at you...I...For a long time all I had was Aruru. She needed me and I her. The misery of losing our parents, our home, and any friends I once had was made bearable only by her. I loved her as if she were the only treasure in the universe and still do, but I forget that I have more than just Aruru now. Motoko, our home, my people...and now you." She paused for the longest time before resuming "I have not seen or treated you as a brother...I~~"

Shinji put his free hand on her face and shook his head.

"But I'm not really your brother. I'm just some person who has lived longer then he should have." He said

"Oh Shinji..." Eruru said as she gazed into his emotionless eyes

He was still broken. The E.S. was still necessary. And now a dark time had come for the weakened monarch. She could only hope that somehow those around her found a solution.

====== On the city's Western wall an hour later =======

Motoko peered through the hyper-shield to observer the enemy line. It was now only a hundred yards away from the wall. The armored vehicles of the Ko-Dan had been partly buried in order to form solid barriers. The paths and walkways of the enemy encampment were only six feet wide and all of them turned sharply once or twice before reaching the outer perimeter of the encampment, which was three hundred yards short of the tree line of the Western forest.

"Shit. I can't mass an armored or infantry assault." She said to the guard next to her.

"I don't understand Ma'am. Why not?" asked the guard.

"If we try and move in there with mechs and shit, we'll get stuck in the barricades, and even if I had the troops for an infantry attack, they'd all be cut down in a crossfire in those hundred yards down there." the Major explained "Speaking of troops, what's our current head count?" she asked a man at the base of the wall

He turned upward and shouted "Roughly a thousand men with enough cybernetic parts to keep them from being ill, but about half of them are busy try to keep the city from descending into a total panic."

Kusanagi just shook her head. Even a simple 'hit and run' tactic would be difficult and costly. Even trying to power some of the weapons on the wall might cost them the hyper-shield, then they'd be as helpless as a child against the Ko-Dan. Motoko was beginning to consider the most desperate of tactics; suicide. A one way trip to the Ko-Dan might do some damage, but the Queen would definitely hate it. She was thinking of a way to get the younger woman to agree when an audio message came from Mutio.

The message said "_I found something! It's not much, but it's something! Come to the medical level of the Palace and hurry!_"

'It's about time.' Motoko thought as she took off towards the Palace.

===== Ten minutes later Palace Medical level =====

"...But aren't there some samples left somewhere?!" Mutio said trying to keep her hopes alive.

A down hearted Sireceien doctor was looking down at where she sat. The computer at the desk in front of Mutio displayed an image of the offending microbe that had attacked their world and surprisingly it was not as alien as everyone had thought. But the fact that the identity of the pathogen was now known produced only a short lived celebration.

"I'm sorry. But back then destroying any and all diseases meant going to extremes and besides why would you keep a sample of an illness you wanted wiped out?" the Elder Sireceien doctor said

A short time later Major Kusanagi walked in the room containing the two doctors. The mood was not what she had expected, since Mutio's message sounded so upbeat.

"So...What did you find?" asked the Major

The Sireceien doctor, who had just been standing there, merely shook his head and walked out the door. Motoko watched as he left and waited till he was almost out of sight to turn back to Mutio. The Aquilian doctor was now looking down, at nothing in particular, a clear sign that what she had discovered was of no use. In front of the seated Mutio was a computer displaying an odd image of some kind of flower shaped object. As she got closer to the screen she could make out a magnification scale next to it.

"Is that it? Is that the disease?" Motoko said, intrigued

"Yes...It's called the _Litpution-fluona_...." Mutio said meekly

"Which in ancient Sireceien means 'Tiny flower'...Wait is this thing from Sirece!?" said the stunned Major

"This is a mutated strain of the original, but yes." Mutio turned to look at the computer screen "The Litpution-fluona comes from a breed of flower that use to infect and grow on the trees of your world. The trees themselves were unaffected by the Litpution-fluona, but it caused the exact same symptoms in the Sireceien people. This all happened before the trees were given any genetic alterations." the doctor finished.

The genetic alterations the doctor spoke of, were the ones designed to filter and produce natural counter agents and immunizations to the people who lived around the trunks of these enormous trees. There were several diseases that afflicted the trees (though not necessarily in a harmful way) and caused wide spread death and harm to the populace. Prior to the on set of this powerful ability the only option early Sireceiens had was to destroy the whole tree.

"So what you're saying is this disease shouldn't exist at all, but now it does and, because of what they did to it, the tree can't handle it." Motoko summed up

Again, Mutio's only response was a nod of the head. Major Kusanagi did not like the helpless feeling that was coming over her and preceded to look over the data on the computer. The moment she touched a button tons of data assaulted her eyes and she was clueless as to how to interpret it. This garnished a smile from the doctor, as she took control of the keyboard.

"What do you want to know about it?" Mutio asked

"What exactly did they do to it?" asked the Major

"Essentially, the only thing different about this strain and the original is that it's designed to attack the tree, otherwise everything about the Litpution-fluona is identical to the original strain, right down to the symptoms. Which would be great if we had a sample of the original." the Doctor finished

"Why is that?" Motoko looked confused

"Because the two strains are so similar, if you have the immunities for one, you have them for both. Even if the trees are in a weakened state, exposure to the original Litpution-fluona will give the tree exactly what it needs and we can start mass producing the vaccine." Mutio finished

Motoko was about to start a new line of questions when a voice came over the communication program in her cyber link.

"Major! The enemy is moving towards the city walls! It looks like an attack!" the voice sounded young and panicky

"Shit! I gott'a go doc. Later." Motoko said as she rushed out the door.

Mutio only nodded, a gesture Kusanagi never saw, as she was already running down the corridors of the medical level. Unlike earlier, she would not have a chance to jump out of a balcony or window. She would just have to get to the main entrance, but as she ran towards the elevator she caught the image of a familiar person out of the corner of her eye.

'Was that Teoro?' She thought 'No can't be. He wouldn't be here unless...'

She stopped herself from finishing the thought as she reached the elevator. She was glad it was empty since she felt like a caged animal when the doors closed her in. Anyone inside might have feared she was about to rip them in half if they even breathed wrong. When the doors opened the Major moved like a bullet fired from a gun and was making the fifty yard dash to the exit in record time when another call came.

"Major? Major are you there? It Sergeant Oboro. Sorry ma'am but the man that called you earlier was just spooked by a patrol unit moving through the camp. There is no actual assault." Oboro reported

"Damn it Sergeant! The only person who should be contacting me is you! They should only call me if you're dead, got it !" The Major yelled

Motoko cut the cyber link not even waiting for the "yes ma'am" from Oboro. She was angry, but expected this to happen. Almost all of her senior and veteran soldiers were out of action, leavening only a few young and hastily trained replacements in there stead. It made no sense for an enemy to do a patrol with in it's own ranks, unless of course you were trying to throw off your advisories. Something that would never work with a seasoned team of warriors.

Since she was already at the main entrance the Major contemplated going to the wall, even chewing out who ever it was that called her in the first place, but that served no useful purpose. Her place was back inside, with the Queen and command staff, who were all thinking of a way to strike at the tightly formed lines of the Ko-Dan. Kusanagi turned back towards the Palace, as she did she took a look around the area, out of habit, and spotted something pushed up against the wall.

If she didn't know what it was she would have been extremely suspicious of it. Although it was brand new, the two wheeled object looked as though it had already seen a years worth of use. The bike's frame had small dents and scratches on it, no doubt where people had kicked and shoved it when it had been in the way. Motoko took hold of the bike and stood it up right, wheeled it around a little, and, to her surprise, the bike seemed to be ok.

"Why don't you come with me." Motoko spoke as though it were a child

Kusanagi decided that if she was quiet, she could quickly drop off the bike in Aruru's room, without waking her. She then lifted the bike up onto her shoulder and made her way to the elevator. At first it was empty, but stopped at a level below that of the medical deck. A small crowd of nurses and people who had clearly just fallen ill stepped on, forcing her to put the bike back on the ground. The addition of people made the trip up the last two floors slightly uncomfortable, and once there, those who had moved in behind Kusanagi pushed they're way forward.

She was unable to lift the bike onto her shoulders again, so she merely pushed it along with the crowd. Once everyone was past the choke point of the door, they split up into different directions. The Major was through the door with surprising ease and although, everyone had to mind the handle bars and peddles, the bike did not prove to be much of an obstacle.

'Not bad. If we get out of this thing alive, I should try and ride this thing, you can take it into all sorts of tight...tight places...' Kusanagi focused on the last part of her thought

In mind she repeated two words over and over, 'tight places' until the elevator door began to close behind her. Turning around quickly she shoved the upright bike towards the closing doors and released the handle bar. The unguided bike slipped effortlessly past the two doors that had become a narrow path, then it hit the back wall and tilted over. The Major, who was close behind, stuck her hand in between the two doors to stop them from sliding shut.

Inside the elevator, she picked the bike back up and wheeled it around her body in a circle. It was a tight fit, but it did make around. She left the elevator with the bike in tow, inspecting it as she walked. This frame was clearly not meant to hold three hundred pounds, which was not surprising considering it was only built for the eighty pound princess. But Motoko wondered if it could be re-framed and outfitted with a motor. There was one person she knew had the answer to this question.

She scoured the halls looking for the man she thought she'd seen earlier, but hoped she wouldn't. Unfortunately, after five minutes of searching she found Teoro. Though he was not sick, it was clear he wished that he was the one lying ill in the bed instead of the person who was. Judging from Sopoku's look, it was clear she had just recently shown the symptoms of the disease. Teoro was leaning over her bed with a clearly distressed look on his face.

Motoko spoke softly "Teoro...I need a minute with you."

"Not right now. I have to be here." he said without turning around

Kusanagi was trying to think of a way to convince him to listen, but Sopoku took care of that.

"Go...they need you...I can see it...in her eyes...they need your help." She said in between breaths

Teoro looked as though he were about to argue, but thought against it. He kissed his wife's hand then left her side to join the Major.

"Alright what do you need?" He asked

The Major went through her train of thought. "Outside the wall the enemy forces are set up in a tight encampment formation. There's no way to get an armored vehicle in there and even if we had a large number of foot soldiers, they'd be cut down by gun fire before they made it half way there. But I noticed this thing you and Shinji built for the princess was pretty agile and swift, and that got me thinking."

"You wanna ride these things into battle?!" Teoro said stunned

"Sort of. Can you put a motor on this thing?" the Major explained

"I guess, but it wouldn't be very powerful." said Teoro

"What about a bigger frame and engine?" She asked

"Maybe, I don't know." Teoro said, seemingly unable to focus "All I did the first time was listen to the kid as he described the thing. Once he told me a few details I just put the rest together and...Wait, the kid, when we were talking, told me about motorized ones. If he could describe them to me maybe I could work something out."

Without another word, the Major nodded, put the bike against the wall, and ran towards the elevator. Teoro quietly retuned to Sopoku's side to wait for the boy's arrival.

===== The Queen's waiting room =====

Shinji had taken off the top part of his blood stained flight suit, leaving him more physically comfortable, but he could tell without checking he was low on his medication . A male nurse had set up an I.V. stand and placed an injector into the Queen's arm. As soon as the Queen went under, Shinji would medicate as well. At the moment both of his hands were holding Eruru's free hand to help keep her calm. He could tell she still felt guilt over what had been said earlier, but Shinji couldn't care less about the incident now.

"How long will I be out for?" Eruru asked the nurse.

"Just a few hours. You should feel slightly stronger afterwards." He replied. "We're trying a few vaccines and synthetic anti-bodies that seem to slow it down." He added.

Eruru looked back at Shinji and wondered if he was truly unfazed by it all or if he did feel the direness of the situation. She was never certain with anyone who wore an E.S. Which brought her to a conversation she felt she needed to have with her new brother.

"Shinji? Do you know of my mother and what happened to her?" She asked

"Only what the Major told me. Mostly that she too, had an E.S." He said knowing where the conversation was going.

"My parents, the last King and Queen, spent most of the time running and hiding from the occupation troops. Their bodyguards couldn't let them help the people whenever they were made to suffer. All of that was hard enough on mother, add to that the fact she became pregnant. I think mother was looking forward to Aruru being born and it would have been fine, but eight months and a week into the pregnancy, father...some random imperial soldier had just shot what he thought was a random person, just because he could, none of us could believe it." Eruru paused

She had stopped looking at Shinji and her eyes wandered off. No doubt she had been a small child when this had happened and the fact that she remembered all of it so clearly meant that it had been powerful enough to engrave it into her mind forever. After a few seconds she resumed.

"The news of my father's death was so traumatic to my mother, that it put her in labor. So, on top of the running, hiding, the suffering of others and the death of father, she now suffered from postpartum depression. Everyone did their best to help her, but in a few weeks time an Emotional Suppressor became necessary. Mother, she...drifted away from me. At times it was like talking to a statue that you couldn't get to play with you or laugh when you did or tell everything is alright when things were bad...The doctors said she'd recover in time, but a year went by and nothing changed. I don't know if she ever would have, and it doesn't matter now. A night time patrol raided the safe house she was at, weapons blazing...they tell me mother never even had time to wake up." Eruru concluded her story

Shinji leaned back in his chair to contemplate what had been said. Aruru, as a one year old, probably had no memory of her mother and certainly none of her father or the cold emotionless final days of her mother. This realization put the young girl's behavior in perspective. Eruru had no doubt been a surrogate mother to the girl for her whole life, but she had never had a father figure (Enter Shinji). Shinji worried about the thought of being a father figure, since his father had failed him. Not to mention the fears and pain Eruru had with regards to the E.S. His thoughts would have continued to spiral downward had Kusanagi not entered.

"How are we all holding up?" She asked as she entered

"I'm almost ready with the I.V. Her Highness should be out for some time." the nurse, who'd kept quiet until now, spoke.

"I don't suppose you've found a way to hit the Ko-Dan?" The Queen asked

"Maybe I have. Shinji, do you remember when you were talking to Teoro about how to build a bike?" said Motoko

Shinji nodded and the Major continued

"He mentioned that you to talked about motorized versions. Do you know how those would be built?" She finished

"Not the details of the engine itself, but the basic layout and controls." He said

Motoko then preceded to tell her plan to the Queen. It didn't take long for anyone in the room to see the unique brilliance of the plan and how dangerous it was. The lightly protected fighters on the bike would only have their speed to protect them, but it would be speed the Ko-Dan may not be ready for. It all depended on whether or not Shinji and Teoro could build a bike that would work and for that Shinji would need to meet with him. Shinji looked to the Queen, as if asking for her approval to leave.

"Go. If you and Teoro can make such a machine, we may yet beat this. Although, if you're up to it afterwards, go to Aruru so there is someone there if she wakes." Eruru said

With that she gave his hand one last squeeze and let it go. Shinji left the room without saying another word, as Motoko took his place by her Queen's side. Their eyes meet as they usually did and both of them merely stared at each other for a minute. Then Motoko saw a thought cross Eruru's mind that caused her to smile. Another moment passed before she shared it.

"You know, my brother and his...what did you call it? Bike, may have just saved us." She said with an amused tone

"I'm sure that'll help him on the road to recovery." Motoko kept the mood up

Suddenly the nurse chimed in. "Alright, I'm administering the meds. It'll take a minute or two before you're out."

"Oh! That reminds me." The Major recalled other news "Doc. Mutio found out what this thing is."

"Really?" Eruru asked

"Yeah. It's the Lip...Lu...Damn uh...Li, Li, Lit, Litpution~~" She struggled to remember as the Queen interjected

"LITPUTION-FLUONA!?" She nearly yelled startling the Major

Motoko nodded and looked a bit taken aback by the sudden out burst. Eruru, on the other hand, was looking around and caught a glimpse of the I.V. tube in her arm then looked over to the nurse.

"Don't inject the meds yet!" She cried

But the surprised man merely said "I...already did."

The Queen looking half panicked said to Motoko "In the Royal Library, third floor...The chronicles of Aloro...Volume II...Chapter...Chap...Ch..." Eruru trailed off as she slipped into an unconscious state.

===== Outside the wall =====

Chiril looked through his scope at the shielded city. The patrols he had march around the camp had not produced the results he was looking for, which only added to his list of annoyances. His first annoyance was the Supreme General, Lord Kril. It was he who had sent him, with this force, all the way from the Imperial Capitol planet, to this one. It was true he was only a young lieutenant, but as an elite Ko-Dan, he felt he deserved better that the treatment of a infantry Ko-Dan.

If that had not been enough to anger the officer, the fact that he was not in command and that his superior was a Spartan; the dreaded 'Ghost of Sparta' no less. But Kratos had been absent from most of the activities since they had landed and despite night having fallen, he had not returned. In some ways he was glad to not have to deal with someone in his way. However, Kratos had forbid the use of the transport as a bomber and he was unable to revoke that order without his consent.

"Where in all of Hell is Kratos?" Chiril asked of a soldier next to him

"_U_n_k_n_o_w_n_."

The genetically modified Ko-Dan soldier was built as a physically powerful creature, but was unintelligent outside of its duties and was forced to use a vocalizer to speak. Only the elites remained unmodified so as to be commanders. Again Chiril looked through his scope, then at his time keeper, then his scope again. Finally he lost his patients.

"Prepare an assault force! I want us moved up to bombardment range! Start with~~" His orders were halted by a gruff, angry voice.

"Hold! I said we would wait! Their Hyper-Shield can still withstand a sustained attack. We have only the troops here and they will not be lost over some half assed attack or are those orders too hard for you to follow?" Kratos spoke as he entered camp

His ash grey skin contrasted with the pinkish brown flesh of the Ko-Dan. Unlike the other warriors, Kratos seemed to only be armed with a pair of one handed swords sheathed on his back. The red tattoos and scar on his face easily made him the most intimidating member of the strike force, but that did not stop Chiril from challenging him every step of the way.

"The orders from the Emperors are to raise the city and kill the Royal family, not sit here and wait. Or did you forget who your masters ar*gerk*!" Chiril's menacing was cut short by a hand clenching his throat

Kratos began to squeeze the life out of the loud-mouthed lieutenant, but if he was to kill someone or something, it would be in a far more gruesome manner than choking . He pulled one of his blades from the holster on his back and brought it to his face.

"I know where I stand...its right in front of you. And if I were not as...useful to the Empire as I am now they would have done away with me long ago. Your only use is as cannon fodder...and cannon fodder does not care how it meets its end." Kratos snarled

The Ko-Dan managed just enough breath to say "Then kill me!"

This surprised Kratos as he was certain he would have had the ugly creature begging for its life. Slightly curious as to what this lieutenant's train of thought was, Kratos eased his grip on the Ko-Dan's throat

"All of the warriors here are programmed only to obey you so long as I am here. Kill me and they will all turn on you. So, feel free to take on the Ko-Dan _ and_ Sireceiens if you feel like cutting through thousands." Chiril chuckled

His warnings, however, did not intimidate Kratos as he had planned. Instead, Kratos re-clenched the fist around the lieutenant's neck and brought his sword up to his mouth, which was now open as it gasped for air.

"I always feel like killing thousands!" said Kratos as he started to push the sword into the Ko-Dan's mouth

There was no doubt that Kratos would have cut out Chiril's tongue, despite the fact that every soldier in sight of this would have immediately tried to kill him afterwards. Fortunately for the hapless lieutenant, another soldier, with news, came along.

"_C_a_p_t_a_i_n_ K_r_a_t_o_s_. E_m_p_e_r_o_r _D_o_r_n_k_i_r_k _h_a_s_ s_e_n_t_ a _m_e_s_s_a_g_e_ o_r_d_e_r_i_n_g_ y_o_u _t_o_ c_o_n_t_a_c_t _h_i_m_ a_t _o_n_c_e." It said

Kratos threw the lieutenant aside a walked towards the transport and its communication system. He hadn't forgotten who his masters were, but that didn't mean that he liked them. Before storming off completely, he turned back to the lieutenant.

"Do only as I say and nothing more...or I will forget who it is I'm suppose to kill and just start slashing at everything, beginning with you!" He bellowed

Chiril considered making a comment, but realized that this man did not know what an idle threat was.

===== Palace, Royal Library, Third Floor =====

Motoko had found the book that the Queen had spoke of, but its size made it a challenge. The 1600 page story of one volume of a persons life made skimming a little difficult and it didn't seem to be a life of medical travels. It read more like a history book, which was no doubt the reason it was on the Queen's 'must read list' as given to her by her tutors. But if it had something in it's texts that would help than just maybe this situation could be turned around. In order to save time, she resorted to reading chapter titles, but it seemed less and less likely that the answer would be found that way until she came across one chapter in particular.

"Chapter 29: The Sorrow of the Healing Tree. Ok that looks promising." The Major said before reading on "Let's see...'As I traveled westward several summers ago I noticed that the people in that region were blessed with remarkable health, strength, and long life. I had, on one lucky occasion, the chance to ask a man from those lands as to how they possessed such an excellent physique. His response was that their tree, at which they made their home, was like no other. Intrigued, I compelled myself to take a journey to see this tree.'...Two week trip, yadda, yadda, yadda, over mountain, yadda..."

The Major skimmed through until Aloro, the author and narrator, reached the tree for which the chapter had been so named.

"...yadda, until...'Until I came upon the western shore of our continent and saw a tree who's branches stretched out over the sea. I came to discover, as I approached the city at the tree's base, that this tree was in fact different from others. It's leaves resembled a fan with its semi-circle shape and the veins of the leaf went in a straight line from the stem to the edges, unlike other trees. As I entered the city, I could clearly see that the residents were of the up most stamina, working tirelessly through the day. I was about to ask them what their secret was, when I took a drink from one of the cities wells. I was instantly rejuvenated, despite having just come off of traveling. With my new found strength, I began to observer the local activities...' Fishing, shipping, boat construction and so forth...where the hell is the disease?" Motoko wondered.

She continued reading until she came to the incident in question.

"...'I was planning to take my leave of the town the next afternoon when a set of bizarre occurrences halted my departure. Upon wakening that morning I noticed a change in the atmosphere surrounding the city. After a short investigation I learned that several people had collapsed after a sever case of coughing followed by blood from the mouth...'... Ah ha! now I'm interested!" Kusanagi said

"...'As soon as I arrived at the local hospital, I noticed it had fallen into a state of chaos. There were far more people there than was originally reported and all, but the doctors and nurses, were suffering the symptoms. Many were suffering bouts of coughing fits, while others (who had already gone through the first stage) were lying in bed, too weak to stand and oddly, the doctors all seemed at a loss as to what to do. It was then that I realized they had never dealt with a major (if any) disease in their lives since the tree had prevented any need for it till now. Having had some experience in the profession of medicine, I offered my services...'...Come on, how did you solve the problem?" She asked frustrated as she skipped to the first mentioning of the Litpution-fluona.

"...'I knew the name of the disease as soon as I saw it in the magnifying apparatus. The Litpution-fluona. I was surprised however, as It did not spread the same way through the town as it did normally. No doubt the tree's healing ability...'...Right, right, it slowed the progression the illness, and?" Motoko skipped past the council meeting which decided that the tree needed to be destroyed for the people's survival.

"Okay. They bored into the tree in several locations, put special holding wires so that it would tumble into the ocean, and then Aloro made one final...preparation...What final preparation? That was all they did back then, wasn't it?...'The people, nor I, could bare to see this tree go into extinction. Although we knew it was probable that the seed of this tree would be infected with the Litpution-fluona, we prayed that perhaps the seed might be spared. With that accomplished, we preceded with the unhappy task. The workers lit fires in the bore holes and add force to the pulling lines. The whole ugly business took half an hour. The details I will leave out. The last part of this tragic tail came the following day, when we examined the seed and discovered that our fears had come to pass. The Litpution-fluona had entered the seed. Heartbroken, the people refused to destroy the seed...'...They didn't...didn't destroy the seed...Didn't destroy a sample of the disease!" Motoko jumped up excitedly

"Where is it!? Where is it!?...'Wishing to preserve it for all time and hope that a cure may one day come, the citizens of the fallen tree coated the seed in a special sap from the Capitol city tree, which sealed it in slumber. They also sought to hide it from thieving eyes and so took it to the...'...Shit...The Shadow wasteland of the Silent continent. Why the hell didn't you just put it on the other side of the Cluster Worlds?!" Motoko sat back down.

The Shadow wasteland was said to be the final resting place of a Death God who was cursed and sealed away thousands of years ago and the land was said to be possessed by giant demons. That alone would not have scared off the Major, but the fact that it was on the Silent continent meant that she would die if she tried to go there. Her cybernetic parts would fall victim to the strange silencing effects of the continent and shut down. Without them she was helpless and lifeless.

'Well at least I know where there is a sample. Anyone who's sick or cyberized can't go...Maybe someone who's not infected yet?...No as soon as they leave the protection of the quarantine their health is gonna be counted in minute; hours if they're lucky. Maybe there's a way to prevent infection? If doc Mutio could...'"DOC MUTIO!" Kusanagi exclaimed aloud.

The possibility that doctor Mutio could make the trip put Motoko into planning mode. She needed maps and non-electronic gear, plus Mutio might need a guide to help her, all of Sirece was in danger including the Silent continent, so someone was bound to be on there side. As the rough details began to form in her head, she became more confident in it. There were still many risks and dangers, but all of them, with the right planning could be managed, and if successful, they could pull out of this nightmare intact.

"Alright! Let's get started!..._Doc? It's Major Kusanagi. You there?_" The Major said into her cyber link.

"Yeah. What's up?" She replied

"_I got great news! Get to the third floor of the Royal Library ASAP!_" Motoko urged

She did not wait for the response, as she had much to do. Kusanagi knew of a shop in town, which specialized in trips to the Silent continent, that would have all of the equipment that a person needed, but maps to, and concerning the Shadow wasteland, were not common. Daring to hope, Motoko searched the library for her desired items and was not disappointed. The maps were an odd mix of satellite photos and hand drawn images, which made creating a useful single map a challenge, however, it was still a worthwhile endeavor. Kusanagi was nearly done when she heard the elevator doors open behind her.

"Oh doc, there you are! You're not gonna believe what I~~" Motoko froze amid sentience

Mutio was leaning against the elevator door frame, slightly slouched. She managed to stay up right as she walked forward. There was still small touch of blood in the corner of her mouth.

"It's okay Major. I'm not as weakened as a Sireceien would be. I can still stand. What did you need?" She said trying to put he best face on

The Major looked over the weakened Mutio. Her legs wobbled and her eyes looked unfocused. She was not in danger of dying, but she would be unable to make any trip alone.

"Give me a fucking break!" said Motoko

===== Sopoku's Room, Ten minutes later =====

"Okay, so you twist your wrist like this?" Teoro made the motion of a bike throttle

Shinji, Teoro, and, to a degree Sopoku, had been working on a bike design for so long that they were oblivious to the fact that it was now dead of night. Teoro had gotten his hands on several sheets of paper and had made a dozen sketches of how the machine was to work. The had pulled a small over bed table to show Sopoku their work. She had little input to give, not because she didn't understand, but because her head now throbbed, as the combination of medicine and illness fought each other in her body.

"Yeah that's right. You can put all sorts of control functions there." Shinji pointed to the drawing.

As Teoro added to a close up of the handle bars. A doctor entered carrying a clip board and looking around the room, in search of something. His eye came to rest on Shinji and he approached him.

"Excuse me Mr. Ikari, but have you seen Doctor Mutio? I have something here she wanted to see." He said

Shinji shook his head. The man was about to walk out of the room, when the Aquilian in question staggered in. Kusanagi helped her in, however she was still able to move to a chair under her own strength. Everyone (save Shinji) had a stunned expression. The doctor immediately rushed to her side, but Mutio waved him off.

"I'm fine. I thought that this might happen...Is that the test result I asked for?" Mutio looked at the clipboard

"Yes doctor." He said as he passed it to her

She began flipping through the sheets of paper till she came to one in the middle of the pack. She stared at it for two or three minutes then looked up at Shinji, looking him over, then again at the sheet. After another minute a small smile graced her lips.

"Shinji, how do you feel?" She finally asked him.

He replied "Okay...I guess."

"Good! Because the L.F. strain has already expanded to its maximum size, in your case." She said

The other doctor looked over at Shinji, mildly surprised at the news. The rest of the room was completely confused by the statement and gazed at Mutio with inquisitive looks.

"It means that, even though his body is still being attacked, he won't suffer the effects of the disease until its in its final stage." She explained

Everyone nodded as they finally comprehended the meaning behind Mutio's smile. Shinji turned back towards the bed and the table holding the drawings of the bike design. He noticed that Teoro and Sopoku were both smiling at him, but he himself, was unable to feel happy and this was not because of the E.S. No, in this case he was glad that he could not feel what he knew he would; the fear and anguish of being, once again, the sole survivor. He decided to get his mind off of the subject and back onto what it had been doing originally.

"Major, we've come up with a basic design for the bike. We're doing our best to balance the speed and armor of it." He said

"...It just has to get us through the enemy line to the other side, speed is probably better in the long run...We need to get someone to the Silent continent. Doctor Mutio was our first choice." She said slowly

Shinji was reviewing the overall bike as he said "I guess we need to think of something else."

"...She already did." Came Sopoku's anger voice

Shinji looked up at her, but she was staring past him, as was Teoro. He slowly turned around catching a glimpse of the two doctors. They, like the couple, had expressions Shinji did not know. It was not until his gaze came to meet that of Motoko's that Shinji understood. Others might not know this look, but Shinji knew it all to well, for he had seen it in the eyes of Misato, Dr. Akagi and, even though he was at a distance, his father. It was on the day they told him to pilot Eva. This was too much for the boy.

"No! I won't do it!" He said sternly

"You have to. There is no one else." Motoko countered

"I've heard those words before! And it all ended in tears! My tears and only mine because I was all that was left! I refuse!" He began to raise his voice

"SHINJI!" The Majors voice sounded cross

"NO! NOT AGAIN! YOU'RE ALL BETTER OFF WITH A FATAL DISEASE THAN ME! YOU HEAR?! IT'LL BE QUICKER AND LESS PAINFUL!" Shinji screamed

Then he raised his hand to his head, where the Emotional Suppressor resided. All of the dots were gone. The stress of the day and the conversation had taken its toll. Shinji could bare no more of this as he pushed his way past Kusanagi, shaking his head as he went out the door. The Major did not watch him leave. She stood in quiet disapproval of his outburst, but in this instance, Shinji would have more allies come to his cause. As the Major turned towards the door, she felt a large hand grab her arm. She knew who it was.

"I may not get everything that just happened or what the kid has gone through in the past, but did you just ask a small, frail and mentally hurt boy to go on some possible fool's errand?...Don't you think that maybe he should be left out of the violence from here on? Or are you that desperate?" Teoro growled

Motoko looked at Teoro and around the room. All of them had a look that suggested that they all shared Teoro's opinion. The Major, However, had no time to appear apologetic. It wasn't her that was desperate. She could escape and leave the planet to its fate, but she cared too much to abandon the only real home she knew. She had only done the math, just as (unknown to her), Misato had done when she told Shinji to pilot Eva. Motoko used the strength of her cyborg arm to pull free of Teoro.

"It's like doc Mutio said, he's not immune, just highly resilient. He's as dead as the rest of us. I just figured he'd like to die a quicker and better death." She lied

For in reality Kusanagi truly hoped that Shinji would be able to save them and their home from a cruel fate.

===== Princess's Room, Several hours later =====

Shinji shifted in the chair that was next to Aruru's bed, as he tried sleep. He had been running on adrenaline since the grey spot on the tree had burst, no doubt how Aruru got infected in the first place, and it had kept him moving the whole time. After the incident with Major Kusanagi, he had decided to do as the Queen had asked, he felt that he could do that task without the drama of his past haunting him, but as soon as he sat down, his energy ran out.

He had drifted in and out of sleep for the past few hours as he kept his vigil. Although, Shinji was not sure if he wished to sleep. Not only was there the concern of watching the girl in front of him, but also the fear of the nightmares within sleep. Shinji did not often dream, but when he did, they were far from pleasant. He was doing his best to keep his mind off the incident that happened hours earlier and was in the process of analyzing his philosophical thoughts on sleep, when he noticed the eyes of his new sister moving in a way not associated with sleep.

Her eye lids slit open at first, then through the small cracks, Shinji could see her eyes move left and right. They were not in the action of R.E.M. sleep, but in the task of observing and assessing the sights of the room. Shinji scooted his chair forward to get closer to the bed and it was that movement which drew the attention of her eyes. They stared at him for a moment as their master tried to go through her mind. She knew that this person was familiar, but the disease slowed her cognitive abilities. Still, she was eventually able to recall everything.

"...Br...Brother?...What's...happening?...I don't...feel well." She said meekly

Shinji leaned closer and took hold of her hand.

"You're in the hospital. You got sick, it'll be alright." He said trying to fake a comforting voice.

"I know that...What I mean is...Why are...other people s-sick?...When you...brought me here...so many p-people were...throwing-up blood like me. Why?...A-aren't the medicines helping?...Are we...are we being attacked?...Please...p-please don't lie to me." Her voice struggled to get words out

He contemplated trying to lie anyway, but he had heard of the girl's remarkable ability to detect falsehoods and did his best to find the strength to tell the truth.

"The empire is outside the wall, but the Major's fighting them. She'll win. Doesn't she always?" He said

Of course he had meant the last part of his words to be reassurance, not actual as a question to be answered. But the girl seriously considered the question to come up with a response.

"Not with us...But there might...have b-been a...time when...she did." She said plainly and calmly.

Shinji was amazed at the child's resilience. He wondered if things would have been different for him if he had been like that when he was her age. He did his best not think about that since Mutio had advised against such activities, but a new and harder question for Shinji to answer was about to be presented.

"Brother?...If Motoko is going...to win, t-than...she's going to need...every warrior...in the city...Why aren't y-you...with her?" asked Aruru

He felt a bit blind sided by that question. A look in her eyes told him it was a serious one, though.

"Because, I'm...not a warrior." He said, still surprised by the question

"Yes...you are...I've heard the stories...you t-tell of...back then...you fought a-against...'Angels'...big monsters...that makes you a...w-warrior, doesn't it?" She said

Now he understood.

"No. No it doesn't. I didn't want to be there, I didn't want be saving cities and worlds. I never believed I was really truly important, so I always wanted out. I even ran away once. I wish I had never agreed to do it in the first place." Shinji said, hoping that the young princess would understand

"...Why in the first place?" She said, almost as if her strength was back

Shinji looked at her confused at what she had said. Not realizing he had left one question unanswered. She rephrased so he understand

"Why, when you...really didn't want...t-to, in the...first place,...did do it?" was her question

"...There was...this girl. She was the only other pilot available, but she had been hurt in an accident several days earlier. My f...the commander decided that if I wasn't going to go willingly, he would send her instead. I couldn't believe...When I saw her, she was bleeding and in pain. I, guilt ridden,...'volunteered' to go. It wasn't the start of some great hero's career, just some stupid child's blundering through a war zone." He finished his story

"Y-you...saved her." Aruru praised

"Not that it really mattered. She ended up dying later." He said

"Later?...How m-much...later?" She pressed

Shinji thought about that for a moment, since it was difficult to say when exactly Rei did die. He could say it was when her Unit 00 exploded, or when he saw Akagi disintegrate the clones of her or even at the very end, when all of Earth was destroyed. He felt that saying exactly when was hard for him, so he picked an answer that fit them all.

"It was a few months later, I guess." He finally replied

"A few months...She l-lived...a few more m-months...Was she pretty?" Aruru said wanting more

"Yes." He said without thinking

"Did you...r-regret...saving her?" She asked

"Of course not!" Shinji nearly burst out

"Did she...a-ask you to...save her?" She asked

"...Well no. She didn't even complain when she was told she had to fight. That was just the way Rei was. I wish sometimes she had asked me, I would have like to have known if she really wanted to have lived...I mean I was gonna do it no matter what and I don't know what difference it makes, but...I wanted someone to ask me..." His words drifted off into thought and he did not immediately hear his sister

"...Brother...save...me..." She said as she slid back into slumber

All throughout Shinji's story, Aruru had drifted closer to slumber. Putting her head to one side, closing her eyes, but all the while listening, with a small smile on her face, because she loved his voice. The voice of her brother. And when he finish, she had made her request and then slipped into dreams. It took a minute for Shinji to realize that she had spoken the two words he had said he wanted to hear and another minute to realize what it meant. By the time he did, she was out of reach. Shinji could think only one thing.

"...Damn."

===== Inside the Ko-Dan Transport =====

Kratos waited impatiently for Dornkirk to open the communication's link, but he, despite having been the one who call for Kratos in the first place, had been slow to answer. Kratos was about to depart and be done with the entire act of attempting communication, when the view screen finally flickered to life. The low resolution screen, focused entirely on Dornkirk's head gave him an eerie statuesque look that might have intimidated others, but not Kratos.

Kratos began to rage "It's about time! I maybe under your command now, but if you leave me to wait when summoned again, I'll~~!"

"Enough Kratos! There are more important matters to discuss." The Emperor said

Kratos huffed, but said nothing else. The Emperor, with his authority restored, began to explain.

"You were not sent there to command the troops. You have another mission." He said plainly

"WHAT!" Kratos's fury was obvious but not unexpected

Dornkirk said this without emotion "I knew this would make you...unhappy, which is why you are finding out about it now. Your job is to pursue anyone who leaves the Capitol city and kill them...That is all."

This of course was not enough to calm the angry Spartan.

"You must be mad! I'm your greatest fighter and you would have me hunt a pathetic coward who would run from battle! An event that may never happen! The city is completely besieged and no one can escape! I will not stand for this!" Kratos bellowed

"If they run, it will not be away from danger. No, Kratos they will have a destination and a way to win...Kratos you will pursue...and pursue relentlessly!" The Emperor's final words were followed by a black screen

Kratos looked at the blank viewer in silent rage. He felt as though he was an animal who had been told to hunt, but when he charged his prey, his leash was made tight. The rage inside him built until he let it out in an ear splitting roar.

===== Outside the Capitol City Silence trip shop, a half hour later ======

The Archery range at the back of the shop was quite impressive, with targets that range from as close as 10 yards to as distant at 100 yards away. The fact that the range was excellent, however, did not help the Major's shooting of the bow and arrow. Despite having downloaded a teaching program for archery, the actual task was proving far more difficult. It had taken hours just to hit the 30 yard target once, on the edge of the outer ring, a feat she had not yet repeated. Even shooting a bull's-eye on the 10 yard target was still hit or miss.

" Shit!" She cussed as an arrow grazed the side of the 30 yard target

"You should take a break. You've been at this for hours." Mutio recommended from her seat on a bench behind Kusanagi.

"I don't have time for a break! I got keep practicing or I won't be able to hit anything." The Major stated fiercely

"Yeah, except you've gotten worse over the past hour." the doctor said, trying not to sound amused

Motoko shot her a deadly look, to which the Aquilian seemed unfazed. Sadly it was true that Motoko's shooting had slipped. Her cyborg body had been optimized for modern combat weapons, not ancient ones, and the program that the Major found was only a basics teacher. Even with the best program, one was still required to go through the old fashioned ways of learning to pick up any nuances that no program could teach. And the time it took to pick up those nuances was time that no one had.

"Okay I'll take a break, but only five minutes!" She said as she walked toward the bench to sit down.

Mutio began her analysis of things as she always did "I don't know why you're even bothering. You can't go to the silent continent, there's no point in learning something you can't use. Why torture yourself?"

"Well I was thinking that we could put my brain case in a more organic style cyborg body. They rely more on genetically engineered bio parts." Motoko thought aloud

"But they still rely on a lot of mechanical parts to function. You might get two or three steps into a silence zone, but you'd be just as dead." Mutio informed

Kusanagi argued "Than I'll head to another city. One that hasn't been infected yet and teach someone who isn't infected how to shoot."

"Which city is that? And even if you find such a city how are you to prevent that person from falling ill afterwards?" countered Mutio

The Major looked at the other woman with an annoyed expression "Look I know my plans have a lot of holes in them, but at least it's better than no plan."

"It's okay to admit that you are unable to positively effect the situation. It's natural to feel helpless in a situation like this." the doctor calmly gave her advice

"I'VE GOT...I had an option, but nobody seems to think we should do it." Motoko started angrily, then quieted

"You mean Shinji?...I haven't quiet forgiven you for that." She said sharply

Kusanagi looked over at the doctor and her eyes met. Mutio was trying to give her a dirty look, but the dark lines under her eyes made it difficult for it to be taken to seriously. Motoko kept herself from chuckling, but couldn't help but make a remark.

"Ya'know doc, you look like crap." She quipped

"Not now, I'm being mad at you." Mutio retorted

Motoko snorted, but did not press her. Looking down the range at the targets did not give her any inspiration for a new plan. She almost never confided in anyone and when she did it was with the Queen and no one else. But now she found herself speaking to an alien woman she hardly knew.

"I can't just let this go." Kusanagi said in the saddest tone she had ever used

"It's also okay to look to others for hope." Mutio said back in her doctor mode

"Like who?! My Queen is dying, my soldiers are ill, and the one place that has the one object that can put everything right again is the one place I can't go! And the one person I really truly wanted to go in my place was you, but you're no go either! So who exactly does bring me the promise of hope?" Motoko's upset voice nearly cracked

Suddenly a whistling sound came from above their heads. Both women reacted to the sound, looked up and both caught sight of an arrow arching high above them. They fixated on the arrow and followed it as it sailed through the air, until it began to fall back down. The two could not turn away as the object made its way to its destination, which was the center of the third ring of five in the 100 yard target. Both women quickly looked at each other then at where the arrow was thought to have originated. There, at the entry way to the store, was Shinji.

He, quiver and bow in hand, walked toward the bench. The Major looked back towards the target, using her telescopic eyes to zoom in on the multi-colored circles and the arrow stuck in one of them. It had lodged in the left side of the third ring, almost dead center between the forth and second rings. She continued to stare at the feat of, what appeared to be, marksmanship and waited until she was sure that Shinji was standing beside them, to comment.

"Damn that's a good shot! So was that skill or just dumb luck?" She asked

"Neither." Shinji admitted. "I use to be able to hit the target at that distance dead center every time, when I lived with my teacher, he's the one who taught me. I'm out of practice though."

"You never told me about your archery skills." Mutio complained. "Didn't you practice in Tokyo-3?"

"No. The school didn't have archery facilities." He said

"I'm sure friends would have loved to see you shoot." Mutio said using a cheery voice

"I don't think I ever told them I could use a bow." He confessed

Motoko looked up at him stunned "You didn't tell them!? Why not!?"

"Major, when would using a bow and arrow have been useful when fighting 200 meter tall malevolent beings from another realm?!" Shinji looked oddly at her as he spoke

The Major held up a hand and smiled to signal him that she understood. She again looked back out at the target, then back towards Shinji. Teaching him basic sword skills and how to make an arrow with just sticks and the right kind of rock wouldn't be hard, but she needed to know one thing before this plan could be put into motion.

"Ok, I like the fact ya, hit the 100 yard target, but can you~~" She never finished her sentence

Shinji whipped out arrow after arrow and fired each of them at a different target. First at the 10 and then at the 20 followed by the 30, and so on until next was the 100 yard target again. He took slightly more careful aim before releasing the arrow. This time the arrow, like all of the others, hit the bulls-eye dead center. Both women looked back at the boy with surprise in their eyes and in the smiles that went with them. His expression was still stoic.

He took a deep breath before asking "So, where am I going?"

===== Ko-Dan command center, One week later =====

"DEAR LORDS OF THE EMPIRE! CAN THAT SPARTAN NOT STAY IN ONE SPOT!" Chiril screamed

Once again Kratos was absent for an entire day. It didn't matter at all from the lieutenant's point of view, since little had happened in the week after the landing. No strikes, no responses to surrender demands, and no chance to attack the enemy, thanks to Kratos's orders. Chiril's frustration was beginning to come to a head. He was becoming more and more certain that their was no life at all on the other side of the barrier. He believed that they had all died and simply no one had bothered to shut down the hyper-field.

"Will there be no struggle? Can I not have the satisfaction of watching something die!" Chiril screamed at the shielded city "WILL YOU NOT COME OUT AND MEET DEATH COWARDS?!"

He was about to return to pacing back and forth when it seemed as though his prayers were answered. One of the massive city gates was slowly rising. Chiril smiled, for in his mind they were either going to come out and surrender or make a vain attack and be killed. Both scenarios were fine with him. He made his way to one of the turrets on a buried vehicle and pointed it at the slowly opening door. He then looked back at his troops to issue orders.

"Now fearless soldiers of Ko-Dan we shall prove how great we are! Let them bring forth~~!" Chiril's speech was cut short

A piece of ground popped up right in front of one of the adjacent vehicles and suddenly two dozen bikes with riders on them sprang out from it. Seconds later the portal collapsed blocking access to it permanently. The bikers split up, some going left, some going right, and one making its way to the back. Most of the bikes immediately began attacking the Ko-Dan line by firing their weapons and throwing grenades into the open doors of the armored vehicles. This all happened inside of a minute and it took the Ko-Dan lieutenant that long to react.

"A-attack! Shoot! Fight back you worthless fools!" He spat

As the majority of the Sireceien fighters caused havoc to the line, the bike carrying the Major and Shinji cleared the last turn in the encampment, leaving only the straightaway to be cleared. Kusanagi gunned the engine, then looked down to see if Shinji was still alright. He was huddled down on the bike in front of her, as planned. He had not closed his eyes as she thought she might, but that was the nature of the E.S. Fear was also suppressed. The Major looked back up just in time to see a shadow lunge from on top of a vehicle.

"Shit!" the Major cursed

The Ko-Dan's speed and force smacked clean off the bike. Her cyborg body withstood the force of the fall, but the Ko-Dan soldier had landed on top of her and stated to punch her. Using her powerful legs she forced it off of her and reached for her rifle, but it was missing. Motoko instead whipped out her hand gun and killed the offending Ko-Dan and second one, coming up behind it. A quick look around told her that she was in trouble.

There were at least a two dozen Ko-Dan rushing her and her hand gun didn't have the fire power to stop them all. She picked of one, then another and was about to pick off a third, expecting it to be her last, when the sound of a laser rifle came from behind her. The rounds struck several Ko-Dan injuring some killing others, but causing all to scatter. Looking over her shoulder, the Major could see Shinji holding the rifle and squeezing the trigger. The shots were a bit wild, but did the job. Beyond Shinji, however, was a nightmare, as an Armored vehicle was moving to block the exit.

The Major yelled "Go, go, go, go, go!"

Shinji dropped the rifle and turned the bike towards the exit, a tasked that seemed to take to long, as the armor began to close off escape. But as he twisted his wrist, the two wheeled rocketed off towards the narrow slip of space left and slid through. The armor, however, would not let it end so simply. The gun turret on top began to rotate towards the boy in a slow ominous manner. Fortunately, by this time the Major had recovered her rifle and was running towards the armor.

When she was 10 yards away she jumped, her powerful cyborg legs gave her the boost needed to land on the armor from that distance. In the next instance she took hold of the turret and began pulling on the cannon to slow its rotation down. The turret whined as it met the resistance to its movement and slowed to a crawl. This would have bought Shinji the precious seconds he needed to reach the forest line, but the armor itself then began to turn. The cannon was now in line with Shinji's back, fortunately, at the last second, Motoko slammed into it with her shoulder. The change in directional force pushed it several inches off target.

The launched a shell, which hit the ground several yards away from Shinji, kicking up massive amounts of dirt, into which, Shinji disappeared. The Major looked on, hoping there might be a way to catch up to him, when the top hatch of the armor popped open revealing a Ko-Dan soldier. Again, Kusanagi's hand gun came into action, putting a round into on of the large black goggles of the soldier, then the Major pulled the pin off of a grenade and tossed it in with the falling creature. The explosion was dull and muffled, but the armor did not move again. She surveyed the area. The bikes were now headed toward the open gate, and she wonder weather she'd make it there or not, when a voice rang out.

"Major! Down here!"

It was Oboro on his bike. He was passing by the dead armor and was in range to pick her up. The Major was on the back of the bike in seconds and they raced towards the entryway, with Kusanagi shooting at what ever they passed. The gateway was just big enough to accommodate all of the bikers as they entered and when Motoko and Oboro final slipped into the entryway, small detonations blew out its support mechanisms. The doorway quickly and permanently slammed shut.

Chiril made his way out of the armor he had been in. The attack had lasted only five minutes and cost the Sireceiens three of their own, but the Ko-Dan had lost six vehicles and fifty soldiers. The lieutenant was furious at Kratos. In his mind it was the Spartan's fault and not his own. He glared at the broken door to the city, which would take weeks to repair, but it was worth hitting the Ko-Dan. Furthermore, the sealed door would keep the Ko-Dan out that much longer. Chiril pointed to the buried hole, that had given the bikers freedom, and his soldiers began to search for more, while he raged.

"This is what we get for not attacking first!...AND WHERE IS THE BLOODY SPARTAN!" Chiril yelled out over his troops

===== Western Woods, Two minutes Later =====

Shinji had not dared to look over his shoulder since the Major had told him to 'Go', but now feeling as though he had successfully cleared the blockade, he slowed the bike's speed and looked back. The woods seemed as though they would go on forever and were devoid of any humanoid life. Shinji took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the cross around his neck. He brought the bike to a complete stop and began to look through the supplies he had on the saddle bag.

Inside were the following: a sword, a bow, a quiver with arrows, food, water, a map with further instructions on what to do once Shinji got there, and lastly, his medication. There were still a few dots in his E.S., but he did contemplate taking one of his doses early. The problem was that he had a limited supply, a long journey, and an untold number of stresses ahead of him. He was still wrestling with the decision when he heard a noise in front of him.

"Who's there?" He demanded

A man walked out on to the path ahead of Shinji and his bike. He was not Sireceien, but neither was he Ko-Dan. His skin was grey and tattooed with red markings. The man's face sported a beard, as well as a scar that went up to his bald head. He was muscular and appeared to be armed with two swords on his back. He approached very slowly as he spoke.

"I'm only a lost traveler. Tell me is this still the Western woods?" he said

Shinji nodded. He was worried, he did not have weapon, a side from the arrows and sword. He was suppose to have the Major with him until they reached the coast, but the battle hastened their separation. Shinji thought about getting his sword, however, that was too obvious an act. Instead, he gripped the throttle of the bike very tightly in preparation for a quick getaway as the man continued to speak and move forward.

"They call me Kratos. I am of planet Sparta. You?" Asked Kratos as he got ever closer

"Shinji of...Earth or here, whichever." He replied

Kratos, now at his desired distance finally asked "I have not heard of this Earth, but tell me did you come from the near by city?"

The boy looked back in the city's direction "Yes, but you can't go there now. Its been~~"

Shinji turned back just in time to see something being swung at him and leaned back to avoid it. Kratos's sword grazed Shinji's chest as it reached its chain's maximum length. As soon as the sword passed, Shinji dove on the bike and cranked the throttle to full. The bike rapidly accelerated towards Kratos, which surprised him and prevented him from taking a second swing at the boy, as he ducked to avoid begin hit. Within minutes Shinji was completely out of sight.

"Damn it! A boy! I'm the deadliest warrior in the Empire and I'm hunting a boy!" Kratos reflected on his orders to pursue anyone who left the city.

The task was irritating enough to the Ghost of Sparta, but to have to hunt someone who could be killed by any halfway trained soldier was even worse. It made him even angrier to think that Chiril let an easy kill escape and wondered if it was done on purpose. Kratos was about to forget he ever saw the child and just go back and kill the elite Ko-Dan, when something caught his eye. Walking over to the object on the ground, he examined it. A small sinister smile adorned his face when he realized what it was.

"At least I can use that." He said as he picked it up.

===== On the bike =====

The woods gave way to plains and they after a short time gave way to a dry lake bed. The sun was now beneath the horizon and light was disappearing rapidly. Shinji halted the bike to take a look around and make sure no one was following him. The woods were well out of sight and the flat lake bed could conceal nothing. He was alone and could not stop for very long, if he wanted to get to shore and to the Silent continent before time ran out. Again, Shinji looked back the way he came.

'Note to self: don't give out any more directions to strangers.' He thought

Shinji reached for Misato's cross, so he could feel its comforting presence, but could not locate it. He immediately brought both hands to his chest and looked down to franticly search for the only object he had left in life. But all he found was a cut piece of leather rope and a bloody scratch across his chest where Kratos's sword nicked him. The boy became panicked as he looked over the bike and through the saddle bag in the vain hope that it had been caught there, but he had no such luck. Shinji threw the bike down and feel into despair.

"NO! NO! NO! DAMN IT! GODDAMN IT! NO! NO! No!...no..." His curses and shouts became whimpers and tears

The E.S.s medication had run out and the pain of the boy's life pierced him like knives. He huddled down in the fetal position next to the bike and made plans to stay there until death claimed him, however, the thought of a small girl, lying in bed, and slowly dying, somehow pushed its way to the front of his thoughts. Reaching into the saddle bag he took hold of one of the injectors and put more medicine into his E.S. The peace of emotionless gave only enough of a calm to allow him to focus on the task at hand. He picked the bike back up, and mounted it once more, but before heading on he looked back one last time to the east.

"Not from this...I won't come back this time. Not from this." He said

He started the bike, and chased after the fading red glow to the west.

**To Be Continued**

* * *

**Credits**

Shinji = _Neon Genesis Evangelion_

Mutio = _Blue Sub. NO. 6_

Eruru + Aruru + Teoro + Sopoku + Oboro = _Utawarerumono_

Major Motoko Kusanagi = _Ghost in the Shell S.A.C._

Ko-Dan = _The Last Star Fighter_

Emperor Dornkirk = _Vision of Escaflowne_

Kratos = _God of War_

**Closing Notes**

Oh man! Sorry I've been busy with school!

Thanks for reading. _Zidane Ace._


	7. Chapter 6

**WARNING:** This fan-fic _will_ contain violence, language, adult themes, angst, names of made up alien people, items, worlds, etc and cameos from other anime and TV shows. It could also contain depictions of nudity and sex later on, so brace yourself!

Disclaimer: Guess what? I own absolutely nothing contained in this fan-fic! Be it Eva or any other show I will give credit to.

_**Evangelion: The Death God War**_

**Chapter:6 Cat and Mouse**

Science and Magic both exist in the Universe. Some worlds only ever use one and disbelieve the other or start with one and shift over to the other. It is an extreme rarity for the two forms of culture to be in close proximity to each other. It is unlikely that these two forces co-exist in the Universe, with one exception; the Cluster Worlds. Although the users of these powers don't always understand or necessarily approve of the other's use, all in the Cluster Worlds agree that both do exist. One cannot use science to explain magic nor can magic be used to trump science, but it is possible for an individual to command both forces. This is not a common event, however it is not unheard of. Furthermore, those who do use the two in unison, wield a great and sometimes, terrible power.

* * *

Shinji knotted the arrow in his bow as he heard the marching steps of the black creatures approach. He had been on the continent less than a week and already he had run into these things eight times. The first time he saw them, he had gone towards them to see who they were and, with out warning, they launched arrows at him. He was able to observe them now as they passed the tree line of the forest. Shinji had only managed to get to a tree line that had only one or two large trees in it. The real thick of the forest was forty yards away, making it impossible to run without being spotted.

If the creatures spotted him, he wouldn't last very long. There were nearly a hundred of them marching in formation and they seemed eager to attack anything that moved. Shinji took a deep breath and readied himself for a short last stand. He had suspected his 'quest' would end this way and was hardly frightened now that the time had come, even if the E.S. was helping him. But before the creatures reached the tree line, their leader gave out a command and they made an angled turn away from the forest.

With their backs now to Shinji, the boy made a quick dash to the thick forest. After a few seconds of running Shinji ducked behind another large tree and listened for the sounds of any pursuers. But only the chirruping of birds and small insects reached his ears. This was the first forest Shinji had seen since he came to the continent, due in large part to the fact he'd only been traveling north-west. The instructions on the map he'd been given were slightly vague.

'After leaving the port town, travel north-west for several days. When you reach the forests travel west until you come across a large river. Next follow the river up stream till you come to a bridge and cross it and continue west along the path until you find the cottage of the gray wizard.'

It was the last part of the map's instructions that had Shinji hearing the voice of his red-headed friend.

'_What is this! Fucking D&D!_'

The thought gave Shinji a small smile, not because he was actually feeling amused, but rather out of habit. He had smirked many a time when Asuka had gone off on a rant and though he had often been the target of those rants, he was, for some reason, amused to see them. His smile soon faded as he felt the pain of missing his friend's presence.

He was unsure if he would even be able to save the city in time considering how long it had taken him just to reach this forest. Hopefully it didn't take a whole day to reach the river, another one to reach the bridge, and possible a third to reach this wizard. Worse off was the fact that this only got him to a person who would tell him what to do next. But there was no point in saying that it was too long and too much, not now anyway. Shinji passed by many streams and creeks, and it caused him to worry, as the day wore on, that one of these was the 'river' mentioned in the instructions. It wasn't until he actual came across the half mile wide river that his fears on the matter were relived.

"I guess I'm going to need a bridge for this." He said aloud.

Fortunately, Shinji could see an object spanning the river in the distance. With any luck at all, the grey wizards cottage would be just on the other side. As he approached, he realized that the bridge was a branch from one of the planet's massive trees. At first Shinji wasn't sure if he should use it to cross. If it had landed there by accident, than he would be following it off into the wrong direction. But upon closer inspection, he realized that were no reminisce of a massive tree in the area and the addition of ropes posted and tied along the sides, to act as guard rails, indicated that this was no doubt the bridge he was in search of.

It didn't take him long to reach the other side of the bridge and the trail was clearly visible. The trail, however, was not short and straight. Instead, it went on for a ways before it began winding back and forth. Once again, Shinji saw no point in simply quitting due to length and marched on. He went on for the better part of an hour before he stopped to break. The sun was now starting to sink and in another two or three hours night would fall, and still no sign of any cottage.

He reached up and felt the E.S.'s indicator. Half the dots were gone, but that was impressive considering he hadn't used an injection in a few days. Seeing as he needed his supply to last, he opted to risk the E.S. going down to the dot and hope he didn't forget to check it in time. Shinji never wanted to feel anything ever again, not after the loss of Misato's cross. Not that he thought he'd be okay even if he still had it, but it's absents was another painful blow.

'I have to stop thinking about it. If I keep this up I'll~' Shinji's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of movement behind him.

His hand slowly reached for the sword at his waist. He would have preferred an arrow, but it sounded far to close to manage getting a shot off. The noise, at times, sounded like a person on two legs walking, and at other times, a four legged animal. Shinji couldn't tell and at this point, it didn't matter as he turned and drew his sword. He was instantly blinded by a fierce white light. Shinji tried to hold onto his sword, but it suddenly became hot. So hot in fact it began to glow red and it forced him to drop it.

"Why have you come here?" a voice came from the light source.

Shinji put his hand up to try and shield his eyes from the light, but he still could not make out the figure behind it. He took a moment before deciding on an answer, since he wasn't sure if this person was working for the enemy or not.

"I don't have a particular reason. I'm just~" He was cut off.

"You can not lie here. All deceptions are transparent in this place." said the voice.

This seemed like a trick of some kind to get him to confess to his motives, but that didn't mean this person didn't know who he was and what he was doing here. In any case, Shinji was in between a rock and a hard place, in that he doubted he could escape and attacking was out of the question. The only thing he could do was see how much this person really knew. If this person could really tell the truth from a lie, than if he told the truth, which was pretty outlandish, then that person would know it. Of course he doubted such an ability existed.

"I was looking for some guy, who lives here in this forest, so he can tell me about some kind of seed...for a tree...and the guy is a wizard." Shinji confessed.

It certainly sounded like the worst lie ever told. Anyone trying to simply guess their way through an interrogation wouldn't believe it, Shinji barely did. However, the light suddenly began to fade and a figure was reveled. He wore a dark grey cloak and a pointed hat. His face sported a long beard and he carried a wood oak like staff. The man looked old, but towered above Shinji, yet he did not seem too ominous. The man suddenly gave him a small smile before speaking.

"He wouldn't happened to be called Gandalf the Grey would he?" said the man.

Shinji gave him a surprised look before answering "I was only told to find the gray wizard. I wasn't told his name."

"I'm the only grey wizard that I know of, at least on this planet...certainly in these woods." Gandalf replied.

Shinji breathed easier knowing that at least this part of the trip was over and maybe get some rest as he listened to a full explanation of what he was suppose to do. Unfortunately, his luck had not improved as much as he thought.

"I appreciate your courage child, but you should run home. A person like you doesn't need to be out here." said the wizard.

This stunned the boy. For a moment he felt as though he had just been given the chance to runaway from all of this, but before he said 'thanks and good-bye' Shinji felt the need to know why he was being dismiss so quickly. Was it because someone else was retrieving the seed and it was already taken care of? Or was it simply because of his youth. Shinji felt that both reasons were legitimate, but only one of them would permit him to end this 'adventure'.

"So than, you've sent someone to get the seed?" the boy asked.

"The seed is unobtainable." Gandalf said simply.

That was not the response Shinji was expecting. If the wizard had said 'Yes someone's got it' or 'Why do you want the seed?' indicating that the idea hadn't occurred to anyone. But to bluntly state that the best possible hope for the planet was an impossible task. This would normally put the boy into one of his bouts of despair, but his E.S. and disbelief in the task's hopelessness, caused him to lean on the issue.

"Impossible? In what way is it impossible?" he asked.

"As in it can't be done. How exactly is that a hard concept to grasp?" came a voice from behind the wizard.

Shinji leaned to the left to see who had said that and found a peculiar looking life form. It was some kind of quadruped, but he was unable to tell whether it was a feline or canine. More importantly it was a large animal. It was the size of a horse. The only reason it had been concealed by the wizard's grey cloak was that he was several yards away. Its fur was reddish-orange and the hair on the tip of its fur looked as though they were actual flames.

On the legs of the animal were what could be described as tattoos, but since it was on the creatures fur, Shinji wonder if it wasn't some kind of coloring. Most of the "tattoos" resembled tribal arm bands that had no real shape or meaning, however, there was a XIII on one part of the animal's leg, making him wonder if it was 13 or some other Cluster World symbol. Shinji would have continued to wonder about the animal, but he remembered the reason he was looking around and searched for the voice.

However, the only signs of life were trees, the wizard, the red animal, and Shinji. The boy focused on the animal wondering if the person who had spoken was behind it, but the creature just turned it's head to look at him directly. It's right eye had a strange green colored scar over it, suggesting that it was gone. It had two feathers in it's hair, which were tied into braids that hung behind it's ears. The creature's appearance was odd enough, but to add to it's oddity, the creature spoke.

"What?" it said, as if Shinji shouldn't be surprised that it could talk.

Though surprised by the creature's vocal ability, Shinji did not respond. Instead, he righted himself in front of Gandalf, in the hopes that if he ignored the creature and its ability to speak, maybe he'd hold on to whatever small fragments of sanity he still possessed. It would have been nice if someone back at the city had told him about animals that had advanced communication skills, but no doubt they had assumed that animals back on Earth could also speak. Gandalf smiled at the boy's reaction. He understood that not everyone had seen animal's ability to speak and did his best to comfort the boy.

"Even if you grow up hearing the the stories about the wolves who speak it's still amazing to see it. Now if you'll excuse use we have Orcs to deal with." He said as he began to walk away.

"Wait! You didn't tell me how it's impossible get the seed. Why is no one trying?" Shinji complained.

Gandalf looked at Shinji with some slight irritation, but showed patients with him as he began to explain.

"The seed was sealed using the power of an old shrine, which was previously used to seal a deadly entity. However, no one realized that the entity was still there, when they sealed it and the seed's presence gave the entity some of its old power back, so in order to keep the entity contained, the entrance of the wasteland was sealed." Gandalf seemed to finish.

"So just like that, nobody is even going to make an attempt to get to the seed?" Shinji asked trying, but failing to show anger.

Gandalf clearly felt that he had little time to waste. The orcs were making their way to port cities and were not only going to sack them, but use them to cross to the main continent. Normally, such an act would mean their destruction (and good ridden), but with much of the populace sick, even the Orcs, equipped with only mid-evil weapons, would be unstoppable. The old wizard knew the story about the healing tree and would have agreed that it would have been able to help in this case, but as far as he knew the only way to get to it couldn't be used.

Red XIII was also agitated. His senses told him that there was nothing special about the boy. In fact he seemed meek and powerless, but he still persisted to delay and bother Gandalf, despite being told to go home. He knew there were children who were like that, but this one seemed to be the quite type. Red XIII was right, but Shinji was still in front of Gandalf.

"Boy! Gandalf has told you that what you wish to do cannot be done. I'm shocked that a little child such as you can be arrogant enough to to question someone so wise. And then there's your scent." said Red XIII.

"My scent?" Shinji asked confused.

"I can smell your determination...or lack there of. You don't really think you can do this. You want this to already be over...no, you want this never to have begun! Why are here? Why are you now so persistent, when you can barely stand to be in this situation?" Red XIII pressed.

Shinji looked at him with a blank expression for a moment, then said "Because I was asked to do it. Because there wasn't anyone else. But above all else, when I've made the decision to undertake something whether I wanted to really do it or not, I finish it...'or until it finishes me'." Shinji added the last part in his mind.

Red XIII made a 'humph' sound and made a head gesture to Gandalf. The man clad in grey walked over to Shinji and took hold of both of his hands by the writs. Shinji was confused for a moment, but quickly understood that he wanted to see if there was something in his hands so he opened them. Gandalf looked into the boy's empty palms and began examining them. Shinji, still confused, looked first at the tall wizard, then at Red XIII.

Red XIII gave him a wolfish smile "He's _reading_ you. He'll tell you things about you, that you didn't want to know about yourself, and you will leave of your own will when he tells you the truth, isn't that right Gandalf?...Gandalf?"

But the wizard did not respond. He continued to examine Shinji's palms in a thorough manner and in more thorough manner than Red XII had ever seen him when examining someone else's hands. When Gandalf was finished he released the boy's hands. Red XIII opened his mouth to speak, but Gandalf waved his hand and the wolf-like beast went quiet. The grey wizard brought his hand to his chin and turned his back to the two. Finally after a few minutes of some kind of deliberation, he turned back and spoke.

"Nanaki, take the boy to the limestone caves in the southern mountain range." he said.

Red XIII looked at Gandalf with shock "Gandalf...You can't be serious! It'll kill him!"

"Nanaki..." was all Gandalf said.

The red quadruped shook its head and walked over to Shinji. Gandalf guided the boy to Red XIII's side and helped him onto the creature's back. Shinji looked down and waited for Gandalf to explain what he was suppose to do. But Gandalf just nodded to Red XIII and turned to walk away.

"Wait, Gandalf!" Shinji said.

"It's alright, Nanaki will tell you everything you need to know." he said.

Shinji tried to respond "But~"

"Please, there is little time. If the Orc advance is not halted, everything you are trying to save will be lost before you have a chance to save it. Now go!" said Gandalf.

With that, Red XIII trotted off down the path. Shinji looked back to see if he could spot Gandalf, but somehow he had already disappeared. Red XIII proceeded to move down the path making turns at each fork in the road without stopping to think about it. Sometimes he would walk, and others, he would make a flat out run, but usually he maintained a steady pace as they went farther and farther south. Most of the journey was spent in silence.

Shinji was not very good at starting conversations and their first meeting had not been a favorable one. Shinji did like peace and quiet, but this was an odd silence and did not help the situation. Over an hour had gone by and neither one spoke a word. The boy knew that the next set of instructions would come in due time, but he still felt the silence should be broken.

"Um, Nanaki~" he began.

"Red XIII." the wolf cut him off.

"I'm sorry I thought your name was~" again Shinji started, and again was cut off.

"It is, but only a certain few, none of them are hue, may call me Nanaki." he finished.

"I see Red." Shinji said.

Red XIII stopped turned his head to look at Shinji and said "Red XIII!"

"...Right...Red XIII." Shinji said confirming what he was told and did not speak again.

Shinji hated feeling like his foot was in his mouth. It happened all the time with Asuka, but in a way, this felt worse. The silence continued for the rest of the day. Red XIII began to slow down more and more as the light began to fail and eventually he began to walk at a very slow pace. Shinji wondered if he was becoming tired, but hesitated to ask. Finally Red XIII came to a stop. He seemed to be looking around, but said nothing.

There was a small stream near by that looked fairly clean and it seemed like now was a good time to get off his back and give him a break. Shinji slid down and walked over to the stream, while Red XIII continued to look around. Though the sun had set, it would not get too dark. Because there were so many stars in relatively close proximity, the light they produced almost guaranteed that the planet's darkest night was like a full moon back on Earth.

Shinji considered using this extra light to continue moving, however, at this point, all travel decisions were up to Red XIII. For a moment, Shinji wonder what he was looking for, but felt it wasn't important. Instead he walked over to the stream and began to fill the water jug he had on his belt. He swallowed the last ounce of water in the jug, then submerged it in the stream. The surrounding forests were not as thick as they had been. To Shinji this indicated that they were nearing its boarders. He was glad to be almost out since he had been having an uneasy feeling for some time. It was as if Shinji was being watched. He had no idea that he actually was, and that his observer was about to make herself known.

"Since we have a minute, maybe you should tell me about...whatever it is I'm suppose to do." Shinji said.

Red XIII looked around once more before turning to Shinji "Well you'll have to~" Red XIII stopped amid sentence and then took on a look of surprise.

Shinji turned in the direction Red XIII was staring. But Just as his eye began to make out a white form, Red XIII shouted.

"Don't look her in the eyes!" he yelled.

Shinji immediately cast his eyes to the ground as his mind tried to comprehend what the object that he had just seen, was. He got his answer soon enough, however, as a massive paw landed in front of him. It was a wolf's paw like Red XIII, only much larger. If Shinji had to guess, he would have to say that it, and subsequently the wolf the paw was attached to, was easily twice the size of Red XIII. The wolf began to sniff at Shinji's back, then he heard it growl.

"Moro! Gandalf gave him permission to go this way...we need him or we're all dead!" said Red XIII.

The growling lessened, but did not disappear completely. While all of this was happening, Shinji continued to keep his eyes on the massive paw in front of him. It clearly belonged to a white wolf and this wolf was not alone. Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out other canine shapes moving around them. They were probably all large like Red XIII, but none as big as the one before him, which only made him worry more about the reason it didn't like him. Again he felt the warm air move as it sniffed him again, but this time also snorted. Then it spoke with a gruff female voice.

"If you stay in these woods one moment longer than is need, I'll tear you apart in a way that will ward off the scavengers of these woods!" she said before walking over to Red XIII, "Take him away quickly..._cat_-dog!" then Shinji heard several foot steps run off into the forest.

When the sounds of the other wolves faded, Red XIII rushed up to Shinji. Without needing to say a word, he hopped onto Red XIII's back and held on tight as the red creature bolted into the darkness. Shinji did not tell Red XIII to slow down, even though he could hear him panting heavily. It was several minutes before Shinji dared to look over his shoulder to see if they were being followed, but the darkening night left his range limited.

But even though Cluster Worlds should give the same amount of light as a full moon on Earth, the sky had become overcast and shrouded all light. Shinji looked forward again and the trees rushing out of the darkness caused him to tighten his grip. It was a fortunate decision, since a minute later, Red XIII came to an abrupt halt. Before them was a river with quick moving water. Though they could hardly be described as rapids, the pace of the water looked dangerous and warded off any swimmers, plus the lack of light obscured the other shore.

"Is there a bridge?" Shinji asked.

"Yes, but...I can't remember...I think it's up stream of us, but there's no time. We need to go now!" he replied.

"No! Wait!" Shinji tried, but failed to stop Red XIII from going in the river.

At first, the strange canine treaded water easily and was well on his way to making it across the stream. However, His pace soon slowed and they began to drift down stream. Red XIII's breathing now became labored as he struggled against the current and the weight of Shinji's body. Fearing they wouldn't make it, the boy hopped off, grabbing his companion's fur for support. It was a good thing that Shinji held on so tightly, because the armor he was wearing began to drag him down.

Quickly, he took off his belt, which held most of his gear and threw it over Red XIII's back. Next, he began to tug at the straps and ties holding the armor together, and soon it fell away. The reduced weight allowed Shinji to float much more easily and help Red XIII swim, but they were still fighting the current. At times Red XIII pulled Shinji along, at others, Shinji pulled the tired creature, but it still seemed as thought it were a losing battle.

Shinji looked, after each time the water crashed over his head, to see if the shore was any closer. Little by little the river bank got closer, but still seemed as if it were miles away. Just as the two were running out of strength, however, they began to touch bottom, even though the river bank still seemed far away. Despite hitting shallow water, it still felt like a massive effort to make their way to dry land, but even when they did finally walk out of the water, Red XIII could hardly move.

He pulled his red body about two feet from the water, then collapsed. Shinji removed his belt from his back and wrapped it around himself. He was now clad in just trousers and a thin white shirt, which did nothing to warm his frigid body. Shinji pulled out a thermo blanket from his belt and, although it was made with technology, it survived in a silence zone. As his body temperature rose he began to think of his companion. Glancing over at him, their eyes met and Shinji could see the cold in his eyes. Without ether saying a word, Shinji began to gather wood.

===== Capital City =====

Another Ko-Dan solider fell to the ground after receiving a burst of gunfire from the Major, as she sped by on the bike. She zigged and zagged avoiding the armored vehicles as she made her way to one of the remaining secret entrances. Two more bikers made it through before she did and another after her. There had been a fifth fighter, but he had been cut down by a turret on one of the A.V.s. The dying solider did manage to pull the pin on a satchel charge and cause more wide spread destruction before the surrounding Ko-Dan could stop him.

The secret door to the entrance closed behind the remaining bikers. As soon as they were back in the city, the tunnel was flooded and partially collapsed. Motoko looked around at her surviving fighters. This had been the seventh attack on the enemy line and it had taken longer this time than any other. It was clear they were starting to figure out ways to stop them from using the passages and bikes as a way to strike. The soldier who was killed was only the third loss, but with numbers reduced by the disease, it was a loss they couldn't afford.

"We're not doing that any more." She said as Sergeant Oboro approached her.

"We just got the latest report from the command center." he said.

The Major just looked at him waiting for him to go on, but he seemed to be waiting for the Major's reply. It had been a long fight and he was no doubt mentally strained, but the Major had never allowed that to be an excuse. Her only reply was a raised eyebrow, as if to say "And?", which clued Oboro in.

"There was a power fallout just after you left. Apparently, the power lines to the doors had newly formed corrosion and when we activated the doors it spread...They say we lost about 5% of our remaining power lines." the Sergeant finished his report.

She nodded as she heard the bad news, making it seem as though she were expecting it. Oboro also had something in his hand. He said nothing as he handed the envelope to her, and he didn't have to. The Major knew who it was from and even what it said. She opened the letter with the royal seal and then read the words '_No more hit and runs. Signed E'_. Kusanagi wasn't going to argue with her, even though she could have if she had valid reason to do so. But, there was now little to be gained from venturing out of the wall.

"Now the _real_ siege begins." she said to herself.

At full strength, the Capital could easily last for years, maybe even decades without support. With the disease, however, time now favored the Ko-Dan, and the fact that they were clearly impatient wasn't a comfort ether. Holding them at bay would take every ounce of strength that was left in the city, and that was fading quickly. Night had fallen and that normally brought with it the lights of the city, but with a blackout issued to save energy, only the materia lake had any glow to it.

Despite the normal tensions that night time usually brought to a battlefield, the gentle blue glow of the lake seemed to calm the city. However, it too was starting to lose its strength. The Litpution-fluona was slowly seeping its way into the lake polluting it and slowly diluting its glow. But, for now, it still gave off its beloved charm and Kusanagi used the calm to ready her troops. Before an hour had gone by, anyone left standing was manning the wall. The Major stood at her post, which faced the direction she had sent Shinji out days earlier. She could not stop herself from wondering if he had even made it to the other continent.

"Where ever you are kid, at the very least...don't be dead." She said to herself.

===== Outside the southern border of Moro's Woods =====

The fire was somewhat bigger than Shinji had planned and he worried it might be spotted by someone or something, but its heat had been desperately needed, so nether of the two who sat by it complained. Shinji was slightly amazed that he managed to get a fire going at all, let alone a small bon-fire, but he had remembered what his friend Kensuke had told him while they were camping and so he had managed. Once again silence fell over them, but it was not as awkward as it had been.

It was clear that this would be their make shift camp for the night and, with the extended break, Shinji was not as eager to learn about the task at hand, as he was to learn what had just happened. Red XIII did not look at him. He look almost as though he were ashamed of what had happened. Shinji, the thermo blanket still wrapped around him, sat on the opposite side of the fire, occasionally glancing up to look at the red colored animal. The sight of him made Shinji wonder what type of animal he was. Gandalf called him a wolf, but the white wolf called him cat-dog, which sounded like an insult. But Shinji's biggest question was the identity of the white wolf herself.

"Who was that back there... Do you two know each other?" he finally asked.

"She's known as Moro...most of the time, other times she's called Okami. She probably has a million names, but what is most important is her title. She is the goddess of all wolves. If you are a true wolf and not some stupid dog...or cat...you hear her calls and obey them." Red XIII said.

"You seemed pretty scared of her." Shinji stated.

"I'M NOT..." Red XIII began, but stopped, thought for a moment, then continued "No, you're right. I saw her and I couldn't even move. She said many things to me in my native tongue, which you cannot hear, that made me feel as though I were a pup...She meant what she said. If she had killed you, no scavenger would touch you."

"Are we safe here?" Shinji asked.

"Yes. The river marks her border and she is probably too busy with Orcs to come after us now." Red XIII said as he put his head down to rest.

The silence now returned. Shinji had one more question for his companion, but knew he shouldn't ask. If what Moro had said to Red XIII in a language he couldn't understand was troubling, then the term cat-dog was no doubt not meant as a kind gesture. However, it seemed as though Red XIII sensed what Shinji was thinking and volunteered the information.

"Cat-dog means exactly what you think. A creature that is partly feline and partly canine." Red XIII said without lifting his head.

Shinji misinterpreted what he had just been told.

"Oh so one parent was a wolf and the other~" Before he could finish Red XIII angrily replied.

"NO! I WAS SPLICED! UNDERSTAND?" He yelled, but instead of stopping, the conversation reminded him why he didn't like Hues, so he continued, "Or maybe you don't. Imagine your genes being mixed with that of a completely different species." He stood and began to pace, "Picture being under the complete control of another." He said.

"His experiment." said Shinji.

"Unable to make a decision without their approval!" said Red XIII slightly louder than before.

"Or you wonder if the choice you make is the one he wants you to make." Shinji said.

"Every act of defiance mercilessly suppressed!" again Red XIII was louder than last time.

"Punished for making a stand against him, no matter how just the cause." Shinji said.

"AND WHEN IT'S ALL OVER...!" Red XIII shouted, but subconsciously waited for Shinji.

"You're left with the consequences of the aftermath." Shinji finished.

"EXACT...exactly." Red XIII realized what had been happening.

Red XIII had walked around the fire and come menacingly close to the boy. Even though Red XIII was looking directly at him, their eyes didn't meet. Shinji was not looking directly at him, but somewhat past him. It was clear that Shinji wasn't just sympathizing, but speaking from his own experiences. When he did finally refocus on Red XIII, the boy tapped the E.S. on his brow, indicating it's reason for being. Red XIII, took a step or two back, then laid back down and closed his eyes. Before trying to sleep, he spoke once more.

"Tomorrow, before the sun breaches the horizon, I'll catch something to eat, then we'll move on." he said.

"...Hey Red XIII...No rats." said Shinji.

"Or rabbits." said Red XIII.

"Or guinea pigs." Shinji countered.

"...Deer ok?" Red XIII asked.

"Deer's fine." the boy replied as he too tried to sleep.

===== Moro's Woods =====

The night was pierced by a beam of light, which pointed in a south-westerly direction. It harmlessly went through a few trees and rocks, before finally fading off several yards away from its origin. The light had come from a jewel, which had a foggy light blue color. The gem was surrounded by a gold framing piece, which served to hold the gem and attach it to a silver chain. The chain was suspended above the ground by an arm, whose owner followed the beam of light.

"...Finally! He stopped moving." said the man.

As the jewel was concealed, the light disappeared. Leaving it out in these woods meant unwanted attention and that was usually a fatal thing. He was surprised that his objective hadn't died out here, which would make things easier on him, but it looked like he was finally about to catch up. Once he did, it would all be over.

===== Outside the southern border of Moro's Woods, Dawn =====

Shinji rolled over as he felt his back begin to complain about the hard ground, unfortunately, he rolled on to a rock and whatever chances he had of remaining asleep were lost. He slowly opened his eyes and propped himself up on one of his hands and rubbed his eyes with the other. A minute or two later his sight had come in to focus and he could see that Red XIII was gone, no doubt looking for breakfast. Shinji stomped out the remains of the fire and went to the river to wash his face.

After the cold water washed away any remaining sleep from his mind he took a look around his surroundings. There was a small stream, that lead into the main river, and the stream was fed by a waterfall about thirty feet high. To the right of the waterfall was a jagged cliff face, and to its left was a gentle tree covered slope. All in all, an idyllic place. Shinji walked back to the remains of the camp fire and wonder if he should make a new one to cook with. When he looked around to find more wood, he saw a beam of light come from the trees and land on his chest.

"...What the..." Shinji said.

But as soon as it had appeared, it vanished, leaving Shinji to ponder its existence. The odd event had left him concerned, so he grabbed his equipment belt, which carried his sword, bow and quiver. He had just finished putting it on his belt, when he saw a blur come at him out of the corner of his eye. Reacting quickly, he rolled forward, avoiding death by a few inches. He quickly focused on the source of the attack and recognized the grey skinned, red tattooed man.

"Kratos?" He said astonished.

"What's wrong? No little speed machine to help you run away." He said before launching his swords at him again.

Shinji leaped back to avoid the chain controlled weapon, again barely escaping his fate. He managed to draw his sword just in time to block the next shot. The massive blade struck Shinji's smaller sword and snapped off the top three inches of it. Even though it had happened because his sword had been broad sided, he knew it wouldn't last more than a few blows against Kratos's blades. Shinji immediately tired to wade across the stream to escape Kratos, but it slowed him down.

Again, Shinji blocked an attack from Kratos, this time, however, the sword lost nearly half its length. Kratos continued to close the gap as Shinji waded deeper. Thankfully, Kratos had to wade into the stream as well and now he too was slowed down. But, the constant attacks from Kratos kept him ducking and dodging, and even if he could get more distance, the cliff face trapped him in. Then, Shinji got an idea. He continued to dodge attacks, but allowed the Spartan to get closer. His attacks became less furious, since he intended to snap the boy's neck.

Kratos preferred to kill the weaker that way, there wasn't a particular reason, it was just the way he was. Shinji appeared to trip and Kratos closed the distance. The boy's hands were in the water, which did not alert him, as he approached, but just as Kratos was about to grab him, Shinji swung around and flung mud into his eyes. Kratos thrashed about wildly, trying to hit anything that was near him. At first he used his fists, then he took his swords by the handles and swung them around, then he used their chains. But all he hit was air.

Finally, he calmed down enough to think and clean off his eyes using his hands and water. As soon as his sight returned he began to look for the boy, but he was no where to be found. Kratos knew he couldn't have climbed the cliff in the short time he had been blinded, but he might have been able to make it to the tree line. Kratos started towards the tree line, but then, realized that the boy could have swum out into the river allowing the current to take him in the opposite direction. This thought, caused Kratos to pause.

However, Shinji had not taken ether of these actions, as he had opted for hiding behind the waterfall. The angry Spartan could not see him, but Shinji could clearly make out the man's shape. Running was useless since the man was obviously an expert tracker of some kind. The tree line had been too far, and going down stream meant fighting rapids again. There was only one option left and that was to defeat Kratos, and that meant killing him.

Needless to say, Shinji was conflicted, but between the attempts on his life, the life and death struggle at the city, the loss of Misato's cross, and the E.S., the decision was made. Not counting the mental and emotional challenges, Shinji had the easiest shot in the world. Kratos was only a few short yards away and practically had his back to him. All the boy had to do was pull back the bow and fire, which he did slowly to avoid being spotted.

But just as the bow was about to become taut, Kratos pulled out a chain with a jewel attached at the end of it. The jewel instantly produced a beam of light, which pointed directly at Shinji. He scrambled to fire the shot, as he knew what was coming next. Shinji stumbled just as he released the arrow causing the shot to go up and to the right of Kratos. The battle hardened Spartan didn't even noticed the projectile as he drew his blades and began flinging them into the waterfall.

Shinji, struggling to keep his balance, while he ran along the inside of the waterfall, as the blades chased him. With each step he took, he heard a blade slice through the water and with each step, he came closer to the end of the waterfall. His next step was not as powerful as his last, as he tried to turn and avoid hitting the wall, this act slowed him down enough for the blades to catch up. Kratos's last tossed blade grazed Shinji's back as he exited the waterfall. The boy felt like his back was on fire, as he splashed into the small stream.

He tried to draw what was left of his sword, just as he got it free of the scabbard, he felt a foot slam into his stomach, knocking him back. His sword landed next to him, just out of comfortable arms reach. Shinji reached for the weapon, but the same foot that had kicked him, now stomped on his chest, knocking the air out of him again. Kratos was now no longer in the mood to bare handedly kill the boy, he just wanted it over and done with. The Spartan flipped the blade over in his hand, to drive it downward as Shinji desperately tried to grab his sword. Kratos raised his blade high above his head, but before he could bring it crashing down, a red blur knocked him aside.

Red XIII's growl was now a comfort to the beleaguered boy, as he managed to pick himself up. He picked his bow back up and knotted another arrow, however despite the close shot, Kratos easily blocked it with his blades. Shinji fired a second shot, but it too, was defeated. Kratos's focus was now on Red XIII. He now had a worthy adversary to fight and he, for the most part, ignored the boy. Shinji slung his bow over his shoulder, as Red XIII moved forward.

"I thought I smelled the stench of a Spartan!" he said.

"You're late wolf! I could have skipped all the way through the _dreaded _Woods of Moro!" replied Kratos.

"Try crawling after I'm done with you!" Red XIII yelled as he charged.

Kratos avoided Red XIII's first lunge, but was forced to block the second. The wolf like creature's movements were lightning fast, forcing Kratos into a defensive stance. Red XIII's growls and snapping jaw would easily intimidate others, but not the Ghost of Sparta. Even when one of Red XIII's claws cut his left arm, he didn't flinch. In fact, he used it to get closer to the red animal and take a swing. Now Red XIII was on the defensive and it wasn't long before he started getting cut.

At first the wounds were just small cuts, but then Kratos hit Red XIII's right front leg, leaving a terrible slash. Red XIII yelped and backed away, but the enclosed nature of the surroundings meant he didn't go far. Even worse, was the fact that he was now in perfect striking distance for Kratos's blades. The angry Spartan wanted to finish this so he hurled both blades at him at once, but before they reached the weary wolf, Shinji stabbed his sword through both of the extended chains, interrupting their flight.

The force of the chains' movements bent his the sword, but did not break it ant further. When the momentum of blades disappeared, Shinji drove his sword into the stream's muddy bottom, trapping the blades in place. As Kratos struggled to free his weapons, Red XIII used the last of his strength to throw Shinji on his back, using his head, and bound up the cliff face. Once at the top he began to run, with Shinji barely hanging on from his haphazardly tossed riding position. Red XIII took several twists and turns, bleeding all the way. Shinji pleaded with him.

"Stop!...STOP DAMN-IT!" he yelled.

With his meds almost gone, the emotions in the boy were beginning to escape. Finally after a few minutes Red XIII began to rapidly slow until he stopped completely. Shinji slid off and inspected the wound. It was still bleeding, but was starting to clot. Next, he checked his E.S., which had only one remaining dot and that was slipping into its hole. Shinji grabbed the pocket on his belt that held his medical supplies and discovered a new problem.

Except for the vial that was in the injector, the vials containing his medication had been destroyed, by a blow from one of Kratos's blades. All of the rationing he had been doing was wasted. He injected himself with the last of his medication and then bandaged Red XIII's wounds. The injured wolf was looking around as if he were expecting the Spartan to appear from anywhere and at anytime. He then took a look at the blood trail. It was somewhat scattered, meaning they could be tracked, but it would take some time.

"You have some nasty enemies, boy. However, it'll take him a while to follow us up that cliff then pick up our trail." Red XIII said.

"I'm not sure what I did to piss Kratos off, but~" Shinji began, but was halted.

"KRATOS! The Ghost of Sparta Kratos!" Red XIII's query came in the form of shock.

"He just said his name was Kratos, I don't know about his title. Anyway, he doesn't need a trail. He's got some sort of gem that lights up and points right at us." Shinji explained.

"...You mean he has a compass!...Ugh...Lets keep walking at least." Red XIII said as he began to move.

The walk was slow, but at a steady pace. Shinji walked next to him, not wanting to put any more weight on his companion's back. His back was also sore from the wound he had gotten, but every time he reached back to touch it, there was less and less blood, which indicated it was closing. The thought that he had come so close to being killed did not bother him, but getting someone else killed and failing to complete what he started did. Looking over his shoulder, he worried how far behind him Kratos was and wondered how close they were to their destination.

"Red XIII, I don't mean to sound impatient, but how far is it?" Shinji asked.

"The closest main entrance is nearly two hours away, but I know of a small cave near by, it's just a few more minutes." he replied.

"Main entrance to what? What are we going to do?" Shinji's line of questioning continued.

"Not we. You. You must face the path to the sword alone, No one can help you. Once you have the sword, you'll be able to leave the sword's chamber room through a special exit that leads into the west valley. On the opposite side of the valley are the black mountains and hopefully right across from the exit is the only ravine which leads through them. At the end of the ravine is a door which only the sword can open. That is the gateway to the Shadow wasteland...I don't know what needs to be done once you are there...you'll just have to improvise." Red XIII concluded.

Shinji looked Red XIII with an 'Are you serious!' look. The task Shinji had originally set out to do was becoming more complicated by the minute. The boy was starting to reconsider his policy of finishing what he started, but he doubted Kratos would leave him be, so decided he had crossed the point of no return.

"About this compass...How far away do I have to be to escape its detection?" He asked.

"I afraid no distance is good enough. The compass you face comes from the planet Mer and is rumored to use a piece of your soul to track you...Don't ask me how it does that, or if its really true, but it will track you no matter where you go, even in the path." said the wolf.

A minute or two later the duo came upon a small cave.

"This is it...this is where we must part ways. Once you enter, follow the voices you trust." Red XIII explained.

"The voices I trust?" Shinji repeated in a confused tone.

"You'll understand. I'll stay here and hold off Kratos as long as I can, maybe~" Red XIII began his plan, but Shinji interjected.

"No! He'll kill you in your weakened state. Let him in. Even with the compass he could still get lost." the boy stated.

"Now see here..." the wolf's protest trailed off as he stared into the boy's eyes.

This time, Shinji managed to produce a look of determination to which Red XIII conceded. Without anything further said between the two, Red XIII bowed his head slightly and began to walk away. Shinji watched to make sure he left and did not try to take the Spartan on alone. After several minutes, Shinji finally entered the cave. There was no light source to be had and the only way to light in the cave was to build a torch.

With the only materials available to make one on the outside, Shinji debated turning back, and risk running into Kratos, to make one. But no sooner had he thought this, when he suddenly lost contact with the wall his left hand was touching. He leaned to his left, intentionally taking his right hand off the other wall, but the other wall was no where to be found. Shinji had not moved so he wouldn't get lost, but as he leaned back to reconnect his right hand with the right wall, he leaned into thin air, almost falling on his face.

The boy swung his arms wildly trying to grasp something in the dark, but somehow the boy had walked into the center of a wide open space. Shinji kicked a rock and it clicked along the floor for a moment. Using his hands he managed to find it and pick it up. With a powerful throw, Shinji threw it in a random direction and listened for the sound of it hitting the wall, but all he got was absolute silence. Despite his E.S., he was beginning to panic and started wondering around aimlessly, until...

"_This way._" came a female's voice.

The sound caused Shinji to pause. He had heard the voice clearly despite its echoing and distant nature. However, it was the voice of a person he knew, which in it of itself was odd, considering his location, but also the voice of someone who he knew was dead.

"...Rei?...Rei is...is that you?..." he called out, 'It can't be. She's dead.' he then thought.

But again the voice came.

"_This way, Pilot Ikari._" it said.

Cautiously, Shinji moved towards the voice. He listened for the voice of his friend and fellow Eva pilot to speak again, but it remain ominously still. Then a new voice came from his right and it sounded close.

"_Boy! Come here!_" a male voice commanded.

This was undoubtedly the voice of his father. Shinji did not respond to it, but did start to walk over to it, with one arm extended to see if he could touch the voice's sources. Of all the people wanted to meet again, his father was not high on his list of people, but he did not like being the only human alive and he rarely had the power to defy his father's words. But just before he took another step a third voice yelled out.

"_No, not that way you idiot!_" the familiar female voice bellowed.

Asuka's sharp and powerful voice always surprised him and caused him to freeze in his movements.

"_COME...HERE!_" his father's voice now sounded angry.

Shinji was seriously confused. None of the voices told him where he was or simply stated where to go in simple 'left or rights', but just called to him. And he had no idea if he was going anywhere, to say nothing about going in the right direction. Asuka's voice had only told him to stop and not go towards his father, but it did not say to go towards Rei. Shinji was about to give up and ignore all the voices since he knew none of them were real, when he recalled Red XIII's instructions about voices he could trust.

Asuka and Rei were his fellow Eva pilots. Nether of them had ever lied to him and both of them had died to save him. His father, on the other hand, had abandoned him and had always been a manipulative man for as far back as he could remember. For one reason or another, Shinji had tried to gain his approval, but Rei had once slapped him for not trusting his father, and that was before he discovered the truth behind his father's work.

Shinji slid his foot back slightly and his heel came in contact with another rock. Instead of picking it up, he lightly kicked it. It clicked on the ground once, then silence once more. Shinji wonder for a moment if the room absorbed sound altogether, when heard the clicking sound of a distant rock. The sound was clearly below him, indicating it had fallen several feet, and a second, even more distant sound, told him it was still falling.

'Walk slowly...and don't listen to father this time.' he thought to himself.

As he moved away, his father's voice yelled after him, but after a few steps got quieter and, after a few more, disappeared altogether. He walked in silence until heard more voices. Some he did recognize, others he did not. The unfamiliar voices sounded urgent or promised rewards, but the voices of those he knew only called out his name or told him to stop. The trail got harder as he was forced to chose between two voices he knew and potentially trusted.

The hardest was Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki versus Doctor Akagi. He struggled with it for a moment, but after a few minutes concluded that Fuyutsuki had been loyal to his father through it all and in the end it was Ritsuko who had revealed the truth about NERV to him. So he followed her voice and since he did not fall to his death, assumed it was the right decision. After a few minutes of walking in the silent darkness, an unfamiliar female voice suddenly spoke.

"_Come with me and my body is yours._" it said.

The voice had come from right in front of him and this caused him to take a step back. Suddenly a second voice from another woman whispered in his ear. It too, promised sexual pleasure and it was not alone as more and more voices called out to him all from women and all promising the same thing. Shinji knew this had to be a trick of some kind, but no direction seemed right. However, he did make out a faint voice amid all the others. It was a girl's voice, which only called out his name, and Shinji knew its owner was sick in bed.

Shinji reached for the voice of his adopted sister and touched the cold hard surface of a wall. Instantly all of the voices ceased and left him alone in the dark once more. He started to walk along the wall when Aruru's voice called from behind him. As he turned around the other way, he extended his arm out and it found another wall. Now facing down a corridor, in contact with two walls, Shinji proceeded as he had when he first entered the cave.

Step by step went by with out a single voice calling out to him, and just when Shinji started to think that he had taken a wrong turn, his right hand lost contact with the wall. This time, Shinji pressed his left hand into the wall hard, determined to keep it. He kept his right arm extended in hopes that the wall may return, and sure enough it did. But just before Shinji began marching on with renewed confidence, a woman's voice called his name.

"_Shinji._" came Misato's voice from the opening Shinji had just past.

"MISATO?" Shinji called out, praying she would reply.

The boy did not wait for a reply though. Forgetting his strategy of keeping in contact with the walls, Shinji turned around and walked into the open path way. Suddenly he was blinded by light and froze. He was forced to close his eyes as the new and sudden light hurt them, but after a few seconds of adjustment, he reopened them. He was immediately confronted by the terrifying sight of a spider's face. He was startled and jumped back, the spider, however, remained completely motionless.

It had its four front legs in the air and two massive fangs hung from its mouth. Its eight black featureless eyes were sunken into a granite grey and light brown colored body. But despite its imposing figure and stance, it was completely devoid of any motion, even breathing. Shinji made slow deliberate movements to round the spider, which forced him to move closer. As he closed the distance to the eerily still spider, it look more and more like a statue. In fact, that is what it seemed to be.

The extremely well detailed statue did not even twitch when Shinji poked one of its legs with an arrow. The hairs on its body looked separate from each other, but upon closer inspection were actually carved rock. Shinji continued to move slowly as he rounded the spider statue and stopped when he came to the abdomen. He decided on one more test, just to be sure, and kicked the abdomen. It seemed solid and the force of his kick was just enough to get the whole statue to move, as a single structure, one centimeter. Now convinced that he was not in danger, he walked into the main part of the room.

The room had several pillars, boulders, stone rafters and large obelisks. It seemed like a random assortment of structures, but in the center was a circular platform and in its center was a small stone cylinder, with a sword sticking half way in it. Shinji quickly approached the desired object. The sword's metal possessed a mirror like quality and the grip of the handle was made of a fine black leather. It had a ginkgo/fan shape, hollow pommel with a gold inner lining, which was matched by smaller ones at the end of each of the two hand guards.*

"I guess this is it..." Shinji said as he reached for the blade.

Shinji looked down at the cylinder that held the sword. It seemed that the sword was sealed in tightly and would prevent it from being pulled out, but he wrapped his fingers around the handle and pulled. With almost no effort at all, the sword was lifted out of the cylinder. Shinji held it and marveled at how light it was, as if it was made of thin aluminum. He was not sure that such a weapon could hold it's own in a fight, but the boy figured that it was some kind of key anyways and decided not to worry about it.

A sudden sound from the direction of the entrance drew his attention, however when he looked over there, all he could see was the opening to the cave. Something seemed off, but Shinji could not place it. Enough was enough, in his mind and he began to walk towards the only apparent way in or out, when from the opening came a beam of light that extended right to him. Shinji had just enough time to register what was happening and duck to the left, as a large, chain controlled blade came out of the blackness at him.

Kratos's ominous form now blocked his only means of escape. The boy took several steps back to give himself room to fight and maybe draw his bow and arrow, but Kratos soon started swinging. Shinji had not yet put the sword into his empty scabbard and his instincts used it to block the in coming strike. If the blade had been made of aluminum, it would have been instantly broken or at the least been bent horribly out of shape. Fortunately, the mysterious metal of the blade deflected the attack without sustaining the slightest scratch and its light weight gave Shinji the ability to quickly and effectively block the next blow.

Even though Kratos was closing the distance between them, Shinji was now confident he could face him in close combat, and when the two did start exchanging blows, Shinji matched him sword swing for sword swing. Kratos did eventually use his foot to shove him back, but Shinji managed to graze his shin as he did. This did not make the Spartan happy as he began to wield his blades wildly at the boy, however, now that he had to keep the boy at a distance, Shinji could now back up more easily.

Shinji was just about at the point where he could run behind a pillar or boulder and begin firing arrows at him, when the veteran warrior got the drop on him. Tossing his two massive blades at two obelisks on ether side of Shinji, the Spartan began to pull. Instead of the two swords pulling out, the obelisks collapsed. One head slightly towards Kratos, but fell short, while the other came right at Shinji. It was a lucky thing he was already planning on moving, as it helped him to narrowly avoid being crushed, but his plan of launching arrows was wrecked.

Still, he felt he could take the opportunity to knot an arrow a possibly surprise him. Shinji crouched behind a boulder and readied a shot. The light of the compass struck him through the rock, but that was what he was waiting for, since it meant that one hand was preoccupied. He rounded the large piece of stone and quickly lined up the shot. Kratos was trying to put the compass away when Shinji took aim. Both were surprised at how close they were to one another. Kratos hurled his only armed blade and Shinji released his arrow.

As soon as each of them launched their attack, they attempted to dodge the one coming their direction. Shinji's arrow gouged out a piece of flesh off of Kratos's left third rib, the blade struck Shinji's quiver dead on and knocked it lose. The arrows scattered everywhere and all of them out of immediate reach. Kratos charged the boy, who desperately tried to draw his sword again, but the angry Spartan used his shoulder to plow into the boy and knock him back several feet over a fallen pillar.

As Shinji regained his breath he looked around and took stock of the situation. He could see a few of his arrows lying a few feet away, but reaching them would be hard if Kratos was close enough to him. Shinji glanced over in the direction of the Spartan to see if he could spot him, however, he noticed something else. Shinji suddenly realized why the entryway to the room looked different. The spider statue had moved and continued to do so under its own power.

It moved above their heads, unnoticed until Shinji had been knocked down. The new angle allowed him to see the spider moving along the ceiling and using its webs to drop down to the tops of the broken pillars and obelisks. Shinji slid back along the floor away from the spider as it approached him, then Kratos came into view. He towered over the boy, but failed to notice the spider as it came closer to the pair. The two of them were not moving around as much, making it easier for the spider to set up an attack. Kratos came within easy striking distance.

"Now boy, you will die here! Buried in a nameless mountain!" Kratos boasted.

"I'm more concerned about the giant spider about to attack us." Shinji said as it produced a stinger from its abdomen.

"FOOLISH BOY! Do I look stupid enough to fall for cheap tricks?" he yelled.

"God I hope not." Shinji said as he backed away more quickly.

Kratos would have followed after him had he not heard a sound from behind him. He turned to confront it, but it was too late. The stinger plunged into his gut and he immediately went limp, dropping his swords as he fell. The spider began wrapping him in a long strand of its web, which was fine with Shinji who bolted for the cave's entrance. It was barely a third the size of the spider and would certainly prevent it from giving chase, plus Kratos was certainly not going to be coming after him again. But just before Shinji reached the exit, bars came from the top and bottom of the cave and blocked his way.

"You must be joking?" He said aloud.

He turned around to see what the spider was doing, however all that was there now was the wrapped body of Kratos lying motionless on the floor. Shinji looked up and down the walls of the room, but could not spot the arachnid. Too many pillars and other large obstacles made for excellent hiding places. The boy saw his bow on the ground where he had dropped it and slowly moved to recover it. If he spotted the spider on the wall or anywhere above him, hitting it with an arrow might be the best way to kill it.

When he was standing next to the bow he slowly crouched down, still searching for the monster with his eyes. Finally, his hands grasped its string and he slung the item over his shoulder. Of course it was useless without arrows to go with it, so before rising, Shinji searched the floor for his arrows. They were all over the place, but there were four only a few feet away. Since it was a nice cluster of arrows, he set out to get them. But as he began to rise, he heard a noise behind him. Remembering it as the sound the spider made when it struck Kratos, the boy opted to duck and roll rather than turn.

The stinger missed its mark completely, but the spider was not through. It hopped down on top of the boy and tried to grab him with its legs, bite him with its fangs, and sting him with its abdomen. Shinji had not sheathed his sword just in case the spider did attack in this fashion, however the cramped fighting conditions made it hard to swing. It did keep the spider's legs at a distance making it difficult for the vile creature to bit or sting him.

Eventually, one of Shinji's wild swings clipped one of its legs. The spider then switched tactics and focused on disarming him before finishing him. It raised its body up higher, which appeared to give Shinji more room, but it was a deception. As Shinji tried to swing at the main body, the legs, which were now closer in, kicked at the blade. Despite his best efforts, the sword was knocked from his hand. However, the spider had anticipated that the boy would chase after the sword, but Shinji had learned when to cut his losses and run.

Rolling in the opposite direction than the sword, Shinji, through a space between the legs due to the kicking, landed on the outside of the spider's legs. The spider was also slightly turned and a foot or two away, since it had lunged an attack it the other direction. It turned just as Shinji began making strides to the arrows on the ground. It began to charge as he reached them, but instead of running, he decided to risk it and knotted an arrow, pulled it back and let it fly.

The spider ducked its body slightly. The arrow made a clean hit, but the thick skin of the spider caused it to bounce off harmlessly. The spider had been in a full on charge when it dropped its head and reached him before it could raise it again. This prevented it from baring its fangs and biting the boy, however, the act of raising it head as it slammed into him caused him to launched backwards several yards. Although the landing hurt, Shinji did manage to hold on to his bow and land behind cover.

This gave him some brief, but much needed thinking time. Shinji looked left and right for something to use and soon a glint of light caught his eye. Twenty feet away lay the sword and between him and the blade lay a single arrow. The bow and arrow did not seem to have the power to kill the creature, but it might be able to slow it down. Shinji quickly got to his feet, which allowed him to see the spider, and it, him. He took off running, the spider chasing after and closing fast. It was nearly on top of him as he scooped up the arrow, knotted it, twisted his body around, and released it.

Shinji had aimed right at the arachnid's grotesque face this time and because he was so close, it never had the chance to dodge. The arrow pierced squarely into one of its black featureless eyes, causing it to thrash about wildly and knock Shinji to the ground. He landed on his back near the sword. The spider shook itself violently and recovered quickly from the loss of its eye. It spotted the boy and immediately charged at him, but Shinji kept the blade at his side till the last second, when the spider filled his view.

He whipped the sword around and trusted it forward, just as the spider was rearing back to expose its fangs. The point of the weapon struck right in its mouth between the monster fangs. The spider tried to push the blade out, but its anatomy had been designed to pull things in, and it now did that all too well. As the sword was sucked in deeper and deeper into the creature's gullet, Shinji twisted the blade so that the hand guards would keep the fangs separated and away from his hands. This, of course, caused more internal damage.

The sword finally stopped penetrating and held the impaled spider in place as it began to choke. Suddenly, its legs gave out and it body rolled over. Shinji pulled the sword out and readied it, thinking that the spider was moving to regroup. However, in the next moment he realized that the spider was on its back and its legs were curled into it body. It was twitching some, but it was clearly dead. After two or three minutes it stopped altogether and again became solid rock. A second later the statue crumbled and turned into a pile of dust.

"Well...I don't know about saving the world, but I think I'd make a good exterminator. I seem to have knack for killing spiders." he said.

Shinji sheathed the sword, just before a rumbling noise sounded through the chamber. He was about to re-draw it, but halted when he saw what was happening. A part of the ceiling had opened up, and was slowly lowering to the floor, exposing a set of stairs and light that was clearly from the sun. Shinji breathed a sigh of relief as he picked up his quiver and began collecting his scattered arrows. As he did this, he passed the still wrapped body of Kratos and wondered about the late 'Ghost of Sparta'.

'Why the hell was he after me? I guess he must be part of the invasion force, but why send someone so powerful?...Maybe it means I'm on the right track...And where the hell did he get a _piece of my soul_? I think my soul died, even before I left Earth...It probably happened when Misato...' Shinji put a hold on his train of thought, when another one struck him.

He did his best not to hope for too much as he ripped into the sticky webbing that surrounded the still body. Finally, he uncovered the man's face and upper body. His eyes were open and glazed over. Just barely sticking out of the webbing was the chain which held the jewel. Shinji pulled it out and revealed the gem. Drawing his sword, he smashed the crystal with the handle's pommel. The gold frame fell away as the jewel shattered like glass.

Sure enough, there, supported at the end of the chain, was the dented and pitted old cross that Misato had given him. Shinji placed the chain around his neck and let it hang down around his chest. He then checked his E.S. One dot was gone and another was nearly sunken in. Deciding not to worry about it, he stood up, replaced his sword and looked down at the lifeless body of Kratos. After standing there looking down at him for a minute, he placed his hands together and bowed saying...

"Thanks for the chain."

After that he collected the remainder of the arrows and retied the quiver back onto his belt. He then looked up into the light coming from the ceiling. It was clearly the mid-day sunlight that shone through and beckoned him to come forth. With one final look around the ruined chamber, Shinji began to climb the stairs. Exiting the cave and once again, entering the unknown.

**To Be Continued**

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**

**Credits**

Shinji = _Neon Genesis Evangelion_

Eruru + Aruru + Oboro = _Utawarerumono_

Major Motoko Kusanagi = _Ghost in the Shell S.A.C._

Kratos = _God of War_

Gandalf = _Lord of the Rings_

Red XIII/Nanaki = _Final Fantasy VII_

Moro = _Princess Mononoke_

**Closing Notes**

I know...I need to post more often sorry guys.

***Narsil**: _Lord of the Rings _- God it was hard to describe!

Thanks for reading. _Zidane Ace._

P.S. A scientist recently created an actual artificial life form...Well the world maybe ending, but at least we'll have Evangelions! :)


	8. Chapter 7

**WARNING:** This fan-fic _will_ contain violence, language, adult themes, angst, names of made up alien people, items, worlds, etc and cameos from other anime and TV shows. It could also contain depictions of nudity and sex later on, so brace yourself!

Disclaimer: Guess what? I own absolutely nothing contained in this fan-fic! Be it Eva or any other show I will give credit to.

_**Evangelion: The Death God War**_

**Chapter:7 Yea though I walk...**

The wolves of Sirece are hard to classify in the Cluster Worlds Species List (CWSL). Many possess advanced communication skills allowing them to speak with great rhetoric, yet some seem to be no more intelligent than the average canine species, thus adding the question of whether the ones who can speak are the same species as those without vocal ability. However, genetic studies indicate that they are in fact biologically identical species, which should make classifying them as intelligent easier, but there are those who argue that the speaking variety are an aberration. It should be noted that the groups which argue against wolves as intelligent are, often times, the same groups that carry out experimentation on the wolves (Such as in the case of Nanaki/Red XIII). During the final year of the old Alliance, before the rise and conquest of the Empire, the Council of the Planets had begun to deliberate on whether or not to add the wolves to the CWSL. But the Third Chair of Power, held by Lord Mako the wise, demanded that the discussion be tabled until a wolf with communication skills be made present to speak on their behalf. Sadly, Sephiroth, the leader of the Death God uprising, killed Lord Mako shortly after that meeting and the collapse of the Alliance soon followed. The topic has not been reviewed again, and the wolves are still under the "ANIMAL" section of the CWSL.

* * *

The valley was not as wide as Shinji would have guessed, which would have been a welcome miscalculation, were it not for the fact that almost every inch of it was an Orc stronghold. The greenish/gray skin warriors marched up and down the rows of barracks, forts, storage sheds, and various others poorly shaped buildings. Fortunately, the odd Orc design features made it easy for Shinji to duck and dive into hiding places around the stronghold.

Shinji had a great deal of trouble getting to the ravine, which would lead him through the Black mountains, but the largest of the forts blocked the direct path to it, forcing the boy to take the long way around. It was hard to tell which direction he was headed since the sky was overcast, but using the exit to the cave as a reference, he figured he was heading left. The cave exit had been on a small mountain allowing him to look out over the valley and see the obstructions.

It had seemed like there would be a path through the stronghold, but the Orcs patrolled it regularly and it made for slow going. Shinji had just about cleared the wall of the fort and was about to turn towards the Black mountains, when he spotted a large wall to his left. He had noticed it only because it appeared to be letting water out of it.

The large dam connected the cave's mountain with an adjacent one and judging from the height of holes where the water came from, it was holding back an enormous amount of water. A door in the middle of the dam indicated it could be opened, allowing the river to wipe out anything still in the valley.

"The old 'If I can't have it, no one can' way of thinking." Shinji whispered to himself.

He highly doubted that the Orcs would destroy their buildings just to kill him, but the fact that they had such a contingency worried him. Still he pressed on. If he was lucky, he would be able to reach the ravine in two hours and finally get to this Shadow wasteland.

However, Shinji would be the first to admit that his luck was usually bad and today would not be a case for arguing against that point. As the minutes ticked by, it seemed that more and more Orcs were present around the camp and all of them seemed to be gearing up for battle.

Shinji recalled Gandalf's words about how the Orcs were on the march. These ones too, might soon leave and give him the opportunity to cross more effectively. Hoping that was the case, Shinji hunkered down in a small alleyway to observe the Orcs for a while.

At first the patrols went by at regular intervals, but eventually guards started being posted and the patrols tapered off, then ceased altogether. Two Orcs stopped near where Shinji was. They did not appear to be guards, so Shinji made preparations to move when they left. Until one said something troubling.

" ..._*Sniff*Sniff*_...I smell..._*Sniff*_...man flesh!" It said.

"You're dreaming. There aren't any Hues around for miles." said the other.

"No! I smell it! You try!" Insisted the first.

Soon both creatures were inhaling through their noses, making snorting noises and ever so slightly turning in his direction. Needless to say, Shinji knew this could end badly and quickly. He knotted an arrow, but delayed firing it in the hopes that they would give up. The pair of Orcs had turned slightly, but had not moved, giving him the hope that it still might end well. However, a sound from behind caused him to spin like a top. Another Orc was standing a few yards away looking right at him.

Shinji could see the gears turning in it's head as it tried to comprehend what it was looking at, but just as it did, Shinji fired his arrow at it. The armor it wore was light and had enough gaps for the arrow to hit its mark. The Orc looked stunned and froze for a moment before falling over dead. Killing the spider and the Ko-Dan soldiers back at the city had all been done with such haste and under pressure. But, this was somehow different.

He was the first to strike and he had a moment to contemplate what had happened. The moment did not last very long, as the other two Orcs began to howl and sound the alarm. Shinji unleashed another arrow killing one of the the two, but the second ducked into a doorway and was out of his line of sight. This gave him the opportunity to start running. He escaped the alleyway, however, a minute later a bell began echoing through the valley.

Shinji never stayed on a street very long. He ran from one alleyway to the next. The strategy kept him from getting caught, but because of the bizarre layout of the stronghold, he wasn't heading for the ravine. He wasn't even sure of the direction in which he was traveling. As he ran farther and farther into the stronghold, he started losing sight of the land marks that told him where he was, until he became lost completely. He finally stopped running to see if he could make out any identifying buildings.

He was still looking around when a group of guards rounded the corner and gave chase. Shinji took off down the street and rounded the corner, only to spot the shadows of another set of soldiers about to block his way. Fortunately, the roof of the adjacent building was just low enough to allow him to climb up to it. He hurriedly moved to the center of the wood roof to avoid being spotted, but froze when the wood beneath him made a creaking sound.

He stopped, not from fear of falling through the roof, but from concern that the Orcs that were a few yards away, would hear him. Unfortunately, such a fear would have been well founded, as the poorly constructed roof was starting to give way beneath the unsuspecting boy. The two sets of guards stopped in front of each other and their captains began to quarrel with one another about their intruders location. Shinji did his best to try and eves drop.

But as he leaned closer to listen in, his weight shifted and that was enough to cause the roof to break. He dropped cleanly through the hole and hit the ground with a dull thud. Again he froze, worried that the noise caused by his fall had alerted the Orcs, but he was unable to hear them over the sound of something growling. Shinji rolled over to see what was making the noise and was suddenly confronted by large gnashing teeth.

===== South of the Black mountains =====

Moro looked out over the dried out wetlands from the forest she and her pack were concealed in. The once marshy and life giving wetlands were now barren. The dam at the Orc camp had reduced the amount of water to almost nothing. What little water did get through was horribly polluted.

Moro wished that the dried lands would hurt the Orcs, but the fact was they benefited from it. The flat dry land allowed them to use their great numbers to easily swarm their adversary. It would be no different when she would lead the charge to attack the Orcs in a few minutes.

Suddenly, Moro became aware of a presences right beside her. Her wolf senses should have detected anything approaching her no less than a mile away. She could already tell that Red XIII was coming towards her pack, but this person had just appeared. Fortunately, Moro knew who it was.

Anyone who saw him assumed he was a Hue, but his real identity remained a mystery. Gandalf put his hand on Moro's side and stroked once. He was currently the only entity in existence who had permission to do so.

"I fear that the battle will not fair well if they surround you. Moro...why don't you join Gondor's army? They may still out number you, but at the worst it would only be two to one." He said.

"You mean join the ones who let the Orcs multiply and tear apart the land? And let's not forget that they even ignored the plight of their own kind. No. If the time of wolves is to end than it will end with its own honor. Not mixed with the useless politics of the Hue." She countered calmly.

Gandalf wanted to tell her that it would be fine and that the Hues had changed for the better, but his own experiences with them told him different. He had warned them about the Orcs many times and only now when the cause had become so hopeless did they act.

Even if the wolves joined them, the Gondor army was starting to suffer the effects of the illness and were not likely to put up a stiff resistance. The Hues of Sirece did not form the majority nor did they interfere with the interplanetary politics of the Sireceien government. Of course it also meant that they considered the Orcs on the planet their problem and not a Hue problem.

The rustling sound of leaves came from Moro's left, but she did not look at them. She knew who was coming to her over an hour ago and instructed her pack to let him approach. Gandalf walked over to greet him as he cleared the brush. Red XIII's wounds had all stopped bleeding and were healing nicely, however, Gandalf still treated them anyway. As soon as the wizard had applied the his herbs on the wolf's wounds he looked to him for answers.

"Well?" asked Gandalf.

"I took the boy to the cave as instructed, but we have a problem...He was being traced by Kratos." he said.

Moro now looked at Red XIII "The Ghost of Sparta! Here?" she exclaimed.

"I knew that dark forces stalked the boy. Nothing can be done to help him now other than keeping the Orc armies busy." said the wizard.

Moro looked as though she were about to say something, but knew the tone of Gandalf's voice and knew that arguing was useless. Besides, it wasn't as if she cared for the Hue child, she just hated the thought of Kratos traipsing through her woods. Moro was once again staring out over the grounds that would soon become a battlefield. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Red XIII move up to her. Moro knew what he was going to ask, but let him ask all the same.

"Moro, Goddess of Wolves, please, I beg you, let me join the battle." he said.

The great wolf remained silent as she thought about the genetically modified creature next to her. It was true she didn't like the cat DNA mixed into him, but that was the fault of Hues not him. As she thought, her two sons approached. They had been tasked with readying the pack for battle and were now waiting for their final instructions.

Moro looked over to Red XIII and gave him a head gesture, indicating he should join her sons. The red cat-like wolf obeyed and the three walked off to join the main ranks. Gandalf, once again, stood by Moro and observed the future battlefield. Then, Moro spoke.

"If the boy dies, what then? Is there no aid or comfort to the persecuted? Does the anger of the unjustly wronged count for nothing?" she asked.

"He may seem the worst choice for the job, which in a way may be best. Because, hopefully, by the time anyone realizes he's more powerful than he seems, it'll be to late to stop him." Gandalf replied.

The white wolf did not face Gandalf. There was little hope that they would see another sunrise and even if they did, there would be less hope the next time. It was how the specter of death was in the universe, even if you survive today's battle, death would eventually win the war.

===== Orc camp=====

For a moment, Shinji thought he was being bitten, but after the sting of the fall wore off he realized he felt no additional pain. He wouldn't have dismissed the theory that he was being bitten, if he thought he was numb, but the hot breath of the beast attempting to bite him indicated his senses were fine. Shinji had backed up against the wall of whatever building he had landed in and waited for his eyes to fully adapt to the lower lighting.

The inside of the building vaguely resembled an Earth horse stable, however, the animal inside was no horse. It was a black and light gray wolf, that had chains on all four paws, which kept it from biting him. It thrashed against its bindings, but was unsuccessful in escaping them. Shinji slowly started to stand so he could round the angry beast, but despite being chained it still kept the boy against the wall. Its blue eyes were piercing as Shinji inched his way to the stall's gate.

Outside, the voices of angry Orcs sounded as though they were surrounding the building. Clearly they had heard him crash through the roof and were blocking off any known escape routes, meaning the boy would have to fight his way out. Shinji's best bet was to use arrows and keep them at a distance.

But he had a limited number in his quiver. There were arrows in the stall, but they were contained in several quivers, which were attached to a type of saddle, that was being worn by the wolf and it did not want Shinji to grab them. He was about to forget them and try for a last stand or to break away and run, when one of the Orc commanders bellowed.

The wolf immediately turned in the direction of the Orc's voice and growled, suggesting that it was not happy with its masters. This gave Shinji an idea, but it meant taking a risk. If it didn't work, he would have a large angry wolf in his face, but with unknown number of Orcs surrounding the building he felt he was out of options.

"You're angry at me, because I look like those who locked you in here." he said.

The wolf looked back at him and snarled. If it hadn't ready to tear him in half before, it was now.

"You can't stand being chained to the wall like this. You're about ready to chew your own legs off aren't you?" Shinji continued to egg the wolf on.

It began to thrash against its bonds as it tried to charge him.

"But as much as you hate me, as much as you want me dead, you won't kill me because of two simple facts." he said, looking directly into the animal's eyes.

It glared at him ready to fly into a greater rage if in case the boy was merely mocking him.

"I'm going to cut your bonds. Yes you could take the time to kill me, but why waste the effort on one who looks like your captors, when the real thing waits a few steps away, unsuspecting." he finished.

The wolf kept up its angry appearance, but a look of surprise could be seen in its eyes. Shinji slowly began to circle the wolf, having decided to cut the shackles on its hind legs first. The wolf followed him with its dark blue eyes as he approached the first cuff. It was still loudly snarling, but not thrashing or lunging at him. Shinji cautiously raised the blade above his head and aimed at the cuff directly. If he struck the wolf now, he was close enough to its body that thrashing would easily hurt him.

He brought the blade down with at much force as he could manage without sacrificing his focus. The sword cut the hinge of the cuff off cleanly and the chain and shackle fell away. The wolf lessened its growl, but kept its angered face. The next two chains went just as smoothly leaving, the front left leg. Shinji, without thinking walked right in front of the wolf and was repeating the process for the fourth and final time, when the massive canine made a quick, short lunge forward.

Since the chain had been connected to the wall in the direction Shinji was standing it did not prevent the wolf from charging him, unlike when he was bound by all four chains. The wolf had been trying to judge when he was free instantly, but jumped to soon.

Fortunately, Shinji maintained enough control of the blade to strike the chain of the cuff and not the wolf itself. Shinji had recovered from his surprise quickly enough to put his sword in a defensive posture and keep the wolf back and extra two feet. But there was little standing between him and the wolf.

It glared at him ready to pounce. Shinji readied his sword for the fight, but in the cramped quarters, with his back against the wall, and dozens of Orcs outside, it didn't seem to matter. Shinji was counting the rest of his life in seconds, when the Orc commander bellowed again.

The wolf turned its head in the direction of the screaming and its growl deepened. The anger in its eyes was now at flash point and as the Orc continued to curse and berate the world in general, the wolf finally lost the last of its temper. The wolf smashed through one of the flimsy walls of the stables and began to lash out at the stunned Orcs.

The chaos was brought to a fevered pitch when the Orc commander was torn apart by the massive canine. The Orcs, that were surrounding the building, now fled in terror or tried in vain to control the enraged animal. Since this was Shinji's objective from the start, he immediately ran to an exit and escaped into an alleyway.

Shinji was now running as fast as he could. If he separate himself from the Orcs, perhaps he could make it to the ravine, unfortunately he was going the wrong way. In his haste and attempts to avoid being detected by more Orc patrols, Shinji had unintentionally made his way to the dam.

He would have cursed had it not been for his E.S., but he was upset over the fact that he had back tracked so far. Then he got an idea. If he could damage the dam, maybe he could scare the Orcs out of the camp and he could make his way to the ravine.

Making his way to the dam, he found several ladders leading up into the structure itself. There were few Orcs on guard, no doubt due to the commotion at the stable, which made it easy for Shinji to sneak past them. Most of the walk ways were made of wood scaffolding, but as he neared the top he came upon a stone corridor.

Following it to the center of the dam Shinji found what he was looking for. The center rooms were filled with gears and levers, which controlled the massive outer door. Hopefully one of them was a quick release.

One lever stood out from the rest. It was separated from the others and was sunken into the wall and had chains crossing in front of it preventing it from being pulled. Hanging on the lever was a rectangular looking key and beneath it were several numbered slots.

Above the recess, which held the lever, was a diagram indicating what would happen when the lever was pulled. Though Shinji was right and this was the quick release, there was a problem. The gateway which allowed the water to rush out was not a simple door.

The metal plate, which held the water would simply pop loose, while the main girders that held it in place, pulled on the back of the dam. The end result was that the gateway would rip the dam apart, ensuring that there was no way to stop the destruction once it started.

Shinji had hoped to wait at the dam until after the chaos, but now he'd have to make his way to the ravine immediately. However, the purpose of the number slots was now clear. This was how someone selected the time delay on the dam's destruction, now the only question Shinji had to answer was how much time. It appeared that there were five slots, suggesting that whatever number slot Shinji put the key into, that's how many hours would pass before destruction.

He wondered if he could simply reach the opposing side of the camp before the dam broke. If he could he could make his way to the ravine after the dam had collapsed and if he was really luck, all the Orcs would run away from the dam, making it easy to reach the ravine without interference. He decided that in order to move through the stronghold, without being detected he would need about two hours time. Shinji took out his sword and slashed at the chains holding the lever and key in place.

Surprisingly, the blade cut through all of the metal with almost no effort. Shinji recovered the key from the floor and placed it into the second slot, then grasped the lever's handle and braced himself. With one forceful yank, the lever was pulled. Immediately a siren sounded from the top of the dam and Shinji could feel a rumbling from deep beneath his feet. The damage had been done and the Orcs were doubtlessly in a panic. There was just one problem.

The timer at the base of the lever was moving far too fast to be counting down two hours. In fact he could tell he had less than a full hour before the dam broke. Since the timer was not counting down standard minutes and seconds, Shinji could only guess as to how long he had.

He tried pulling the key and the lever again, but to no avail and Shinji began to run. He started back towards the ladder that brought him to this level, when he spotted something in a storage room, a rope, and it gave him an idea. Snatching up the rope, Shinji headed for the nearest window.

As he ran he tied one end of the rope to an arrow and tightly held the other end with his hand. Upon reaching a window he knotted the arrow aimed it at a building below, and let it fly. He worried for a moment, as the line unraveled, that he might not have enough rope and that he would run out stopping the arrow before it connected, thus forcing him to recoil the rope and try again, losing precious minutes in the process.

Fortunately, the arrow deeply imbedded itself in the roof of on of the buildings below. Shinji pulled the rope as tight as he could and tied it off on a jagged piece of metal sticking out of the wall. The rope made thirty three degree angle, which concerned Shinji that it might be too steep, but he didn't have time to deal with it. He took off his equipment belt and slung it over the rope. Holding both ends of the belt he took a deep breath and hurled his body over the edge.

The make shift zip line instantly sagged and Shinji thought, for a moment, that he was falling, but the rope held as he traveled downward. Though the line worked as it was suppose to, the ground still came at him at a frightening speed. Shinji forgot he was wearing an E.S. and wondered why he wasn't screaming his lungs out.

Then he felt the line sagging and twitching, and this time he knew that the was giving out, or being cut on one of its ends. Shinji tried to look back and see if someone was at the window, but that was when the rope gave out. Thankfully, by this point, Shinji was over a sturdy roof and low enough that he managed to land without serious injury.

He still felt sore from the minor impact, but pushed through it as he began to leap from roof top to roof top. Below him in the alleyways, the Orcs were scrambling to stop or run away from the breaking dam. Most were attempting the later. The Orc commanders were the ones trying, and failing to coordinate their troops efforts toward halting the dam's destruction.

Shinji was grateful that he was on the roof tops and than mentally kicked himself for having jinxed himself as he came to a gap in the buildings preventing him from simply jumping across. Looking left and right, he could see that the gap extended through the entire camp.

Time was getting short so Shinji took a breath and hopped off the roof. Now that he was on foot and running like mad. He was making good time. Even the best E.S. and drug combination could not stop the serge of adrenalin in his body. But Orcs were his problem, not adrenalin and he soon ran into one as he rounded a corner.

It bellowed and tried to grab him, but Shinji shoved it to the ground. Behind it, however, were dozens more, and they had all spotted him. Shinji took off in the other direction, which was still towards the far shore but away from the ravine itself. It was fortunate that none of the Orcs had bows or Shinji would have been killed on the spot.

As he reached the end of a building, he looked in the direction of the far shore. It was close now and he could see the high cliff face. Shinji decided it was now or never and headed directly towards the shore. Behind him the dam was leaking badly. The gate was part way open and water gushed out from all sides of it. There were also cracks that had begun to form around the gate and they were spreading fast. The dam's destruction was a few short minutes away.

Shinji had been running towards a wall and was worried that he was somehow going to have to climb it. But as he approached the end of the alleyway he was running down, he spotted a break in the wall to the right and he used what little energy he had left to rush towards it. Shinji was through the door and half way across a parade field when he realized that the cliff face in front of him was a smooth flat surface and several a few feet too high for him to reach by jumping.

He turned to run, but the Orcs were now coming through the break in the wall and charging him. To his left and right were buildings and fences that were nearly as high as the cliff face. In the distance Shinji could see the dam beginning to shudder as it enter the final stage of breaking. The situation was definitely grim, but Shinji did not yet give up. He knotted an arrow and began to shoot at the on coming Orcs, hoping to stem the tide of them.

He let arrow after arrow fly, bringing an Orc down with each shot, but for every one he took down two more appeared at the gap. Shinji continued to fire arrows at his deadly adversaries, trying to match their numbers with his bow, he even sped up his rate of fire without losing any of his accuracy to keep them at bay. His efforts finally came to a halt when he reached back to his quiver, but could find no arrows at all. The Orcs, now unimpeded by the projectiles, rapidly closed the distance.

Shinji, slowly drew his sword. In his mind there was no point in rushing. There were dozens of Orcs charging him now and behind them, part of the dam had broken causing water to begin toppling the rest. Water would crash over them in a minute or less, and the Orcs were oblivious to anything other than killing the boy.

He figured that being killed instantly by rushing water was far better than being hacked to pieces by the angry creatures. All he had to do was last a few seconds and it would all finally end. One Orc broke from the rest as he charged with a halberd in its hands.

Shinji readied himself for his last stand when he heard a crashing sound to his left. Before he could look in that direction, a dark blur appeared before him, knocking the Orc to the ground. It never had a chance to stand again as the wolf, that towered over it, quickly mauled the creature, then turned it on the other ones. It thrashed about, smacking, chewing, and clawing the dark green creatures.

The boy was surprised for a moment, then when he saw more Orcs trying to surround the canine he jumped into the fighting. He held them off for only a minute when he heard a deafening roar and looked back at the dam. It had completely fallen apart and the water behind it was now completely unleashed.

Shinji could not see the rest of the stronghold over the wall, but he didn't have to, to know that a destructive wave of water was coming right at them and would be there in seconds. Running over to the wolf, he took hold of the saddle, that had remained attached and gripped tightly.

The wolf noticed the sudden sensation and turned its head. Upon seeing the boy, it began to snarl and bare its teeth, temporarily ignoring the dozen or so Orcs, who took the break in the violent assault to start enveloping the wolf. Shinji, on the other hand, took the opportunity to warn the beast of the impending destruction.

"The water's coming! Jump!" he yelled.

The wolf still snarled, but took on a quizzical look, as it pondered the meaning of his statement. Shinji pointed his sword in the direction of the dam. At first the wolf only tilted its head in that direction, then, when it caught sight of the dam, turned its head fully and perked its ears up. It could hear the ferocious water charging them.

"Jump!" Shinji yelled again.

This time the wolf heeded the boy's warning and bolted for one of the buildings along the cliff face. Shinji held his grip so tightly that he felt like he was crushing his own hand, as he was pulled along with the wolf. The building came up fast and they nearly collided with it, but at the last instant the wolf made a powerful leap to the top of the building. Without pausing it made a second leap up, this time reaching the ledge above the parade field.

Shinji could now see over the valley and the swath of destruction that the wave of water was causing. It was moving fast and was even higher than expected. In fact it looked to be eye level, as it approached. He turned his body and closed his eyes as the wave crashed against them. Shinji recalled a time when Asuka had slapped him it the face. The wave felt like that, only over his entire body. But, the moment had passed and the stinging pain was fading.

He reopened his eyes to take stock of his location. The water was moving violently down the valley, wiping out all Orcs in it path. The ledge he was on seemed to lead to the ravine, which meant that his journey was not yet over. As for the wolf, Shinji was sitting on it. Either during the jumping or the crashing wave, Shinji had ended up it the saddle, and as soon as he realized it, so too did the wolf.

Suddenly Shinji felt himself being violently shook.

===== The lake bed, South of the Black mountains, five minutes later =====

The Orc commander barked furiously at his soggy troops. Most of his solders had been wiped out by the flooding water and the survivors were split up by the still rushing water. He had managed to swim over to the largest group of survivors and was trying to reorganize them into a regiment. He was far from giving up on the Hue villages and cities. As an Orc commander he would go to war with whatever troops he had.

The horribly disfigured pink Orc shoved and hit his troops as he pushed them into position. He was determined to get these creatures into battle. Although Orcs were highly feared, in actuality they were not the most powerful army ever conceived. When on the offensive they appear unstoppable.

But whenever they were on the defensive or the battle turned in their enemy's favor, the Orcs fell apart as a fighting force. This commander had seen it many times and was determined to stay on the offensive.

"Form rank you worthless pieces of trash! I want the cities of the Hue to burn! We will hear the screams of women and children before~" The commander cut his raging short, when he noticed all of his warriors take on a look of shock.

The pinkish Orc tried to look behind him, but, Moro's jaw clamped down on the upper half of his body. With a violent head shake she disemboweled the horrid creature and spat out its remains, before charging the rest of the Orcs. Her pack followed close behind and the scene soon became the sight of a massacre.

Orcs on the other side of the rushing water, turned and fled away from the destruction. Moro, knew it would take time to hunt them down, but they were no longer a threat in their current state.

She looked out over the now flooded lake bed. It would take a while for it to settle down and allow the water to flow as it did before the dam, but left alone the lake and river leading down stream would return. Moro turned her gaze upstream and watched as parts of the Orc encampment were washed away.

'Don't tell me that puny Hue child is actually useful.' She mused to herself as she finished off the last the Orc regiment.

===== Edge of the Black mountains =====

Shinji barely avoided another bite from the fierce canine. He had been lucky enough to escape injury when it threw him from its back, but his luck was running out with every snap of its jaw. The wolf lunged again as Shinji rolled to avoid it. He watched as something was thrown from the wolf. Arrows. The quivers on the saddle had managed to hold their contents until the thrashing had become so bad that they had broken open spilling the projectiles everywhere.

As he scrambled to get up, the boy snagged an arrow. Shinji drove his sword into the ground to free up a hand. The blade proved to be to ineffective in close combat against a wolf except in a defensive posture and the boy knew he need to show a sign of force to halt the creature's aggression. Taking the bow off his shoulder, he knotted the arrow.

The wolf lunged once more, only this time, Shinji rolled under it and up into a standing position on the other side. The wolf spun around, after realizing what had happened. It prepared to strike again, but halted at the sight of the boy. He was standing in perfect arching posture and had just enough distance between them to shoot and move if the wolf attacked again.

The ridge they had been fighting on was wide enough to thrash about in, but a fired arrow from a decent archer was a guaranteed hit. Add to that the factors of the wolf being so large, the distance was short, and that the boy was more than decent at archery, and it was clear that Shinji had the wolf dead to rights, and the wolf knew it.

It growled at him, but Shinji did not budge. The two stared each other down; the wolf, with its angry eyes and bare teeth, and Shinji with his unreadable expression. Finally, Shinji let some tension off the bow string and pointed the arrow down slightly. The wolf still growled, however, his look now had a hint of confusion.

In its mind, the only reason he didn't shoot was so he could save his only arrow, but he should have taken off running by this point. The wolf was starting to contemplate going back on the offensive, when Shinji spoke up.

"Enough fighting. You have your freedom, now go." He said plainly.

It was true, the wolf was free and could go as far from the valley as possible, but the canine remained where it was. Shinji learned then that he could get a little annoyed even with the E.S.

"Than stay here. I have something to do and if I don't do it, everyone, yourself included, won't like the outcome." He said.

The wolf sat there with his teeth bare, but it growl went silent. Shinji put the arrow in his quiver and reclaimed his sword from the ground. As he turned to walk away he grabbed arrows that had been strewn across the narrow ridge and put them in his quiver as well. At first the wolf considered striking again, however, the lull in the fighting had calmed him down enough, and decided against it. The irritation of the saddle on its back was a far more pressing issue.

It tried to gnaw at the leather straps holding it on, however, it had been designed to prevent wolves from doing this. Shinji started walking away from the scene, figuring it was best to leave the animal to its own devices. He finished picking up the rest of the arrows that were on the ground and started walking away, when he suddenly realized, he was going the wrong way.

Shinji looked back in the direction of the wolf. It was struggling with the harness on its back and becoming more agitated. If it caught him sneaking past, he be right back where he started. He could think of only one way to pass safely.

"You want me to take that thing off for you?" Shinji asked.

The wolf stopped for a moment, indicating that it heard Shinji, but never turned to face him, then continued as if the question had never been asked. Shinji slowly approached the large mammal, seeing one of the exposed straps and having hopes of pulling it lose. The wolf, with its heighten senses was not oblivious to this action.

It waited until Shinji was nearly in range, then snapped at him. It was the boy's cautious approach and sharp reflexes from fighting, both in Eva and in recent ground battles, that saved him from being bitten.

"DO I LOOK LIKE I WANT YOUR HELP!" The wolf, quite literally, barked.

"No, you look like you need it." Shinji said calmly.

This did not quell the wolf's anger. It continued to snarl as the boy approached again.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" It growled.

"And I'm telling you. That saddle will not come off unless someone takes it off." he said, still kept calm by the E.S.

It may not have wanted to admit it, but the wolf knew it to be true. The cruelly designed harness made it physically impossible for the creature wearing it to remove it without serious and possibly fatal injury. Despite these facts, the wolf was still reluctant to accept the boy's help.

"And you want, what, in return?" the wolf asked through its snarls.

Shinji looked confused as to why the wolf thought he was looking to make a deal. It's true one could look at every act of kindness as trying to build up favors, but to look upon life in such a dark way was disheartening to the already troubled boy. He was certain he was never going to see the canine again after he set him free, but the wolf didn't know for sure, and Shinji had know idea if wolves had some kind of honor code requiring them to repay debts. Still Shinji persisted.

"Look, can't a person just be nice and you selfishly accept?" Shinji complained.

"Selfishness is the problem. Everything in the Hue world is available, but only for the right price." it said.

"...That isn't what I'm like...but if you must have some price...the arrows on your saddle. I want them." Shinji said.

"Why, so you can kill me!" it barked.

"I could have killed you a few seconds ago. Do we have a deal or not." Shinji said exasperated.

The wolf growled for a moment longer, but then stopped. His teeth were still bared at the boy, however the canine turned its body slightly to give him access to the straps. Shinji slowly approached, still cautious as to whether or not it was just drawing him in. He relaxed some once he reached the straps.

If the wolf didn't strike when he was out of reach of a sword swing, he was going to wait until the saddle was gone. Shinji Noticed that the cuff of the wolf's bindings was still attached. Hoping to ease the tension further the boy offered to remove it. The wolf looked down at it before speaking.

"Leave it. It will serve as a reminder of where I come from." It said calmly.

The calm sounding wolf gave the boy hope that their fighting was done. If Shinji's luck held out he could make his way to the ravine without any further problems. The saddle fell to the ground in a massive heap. Shinji gathered as many arrows as his quiver could handle and then slung the quivers from the saddle over his shoulder.

The wolf stretched out his back and shook out his body. With the saddle gone it body felt ten times lighter. The wolf now seemed not to notice Shinji's presence and it appeared to be a good time to walk away. The path narrowed a bit as it began to round into the ravine. It almost made Shinji feel as though the end of the journey was right around the bend.

Unfortunately, that delusion was quickly ended as the bend soon reviled the ravine to be a mess of jagged rock. Most of the ravine was covered in shadow giving it a dark eerie look and to make the trek even more difficult, there appeared to be no path through the hellish looking ravine. Shinji was attempting to take stock of his situation as a voice came from behind him.

"I know what I'm doing here, but what makes you think it's a good idea for a meek creature such as yourself to travel this way?" The wolf spoke with honest curiosity.

"I have to get to the Shadow wasteland that's beyond this ravine." He said flatly.

"WHAT TYPE OF INSANITY WOULD DRIVE YOU TO THAT PIT!" The canine yelled in shock.

Shinji looked at the wolf's face. It was staring at him with wide eyes and a stunned expression. Shinji had suspected, due to the tone that everyone used, that the Shadow wasteland was a very inhospitable place. But now, the wolf's attitude confirmed it. However, knowing that the Shadow wasteland was an awful place changed nothing for the boy. What did change was Shinji's reaction towards the wolf.

"Have you been there?" he asked.

"I've been _past_ it and the smell from it alone drives me away." the wolf responded.

"Can you take me there?" Shinji asked urgently.

The wolf rolled its eyes at the request as if to say 'did you seriously ask such a dumb question'. It also sported an irritated look.

"What makes you think I give a damn about the fate of you and your kind! I have no desire to save the Hues from this plague, all of you can all rot in hell!" the wolf spat.

"...How did you know it was a plague?" Shinji asked wondering about what the wolf knew.

"You can smell it. The faint odor of something ill; the tension that a city gives off as if it were under siege, yet no sign of battle at its gates; and most of all, that stale air that's clogged with something, but is still invisible." said the wolf as he looked to the sky and took a sniff.

"I suppose the Orcs suffer from it too." Shinji said to see the wolf's reaction.

The wolf didn't respond. Instead it just stood there looking into the sky. The truth was that the Orcs were creatures that had somehow, whether by some master's design or by their own volition, had shed their intelligence and any aesthetic looks to receive powerful bodies. Bodies that were immune to most diseases, including the Litpution-fluona. If things remained as they were the Orcs would be the dominate force on Sirece.

"Well not that it matters to you. As long as the Hues are gone, than the Orcs are sure to treat the wolves with respect. Or at the very least leave them be." Shinji said hoping to rouse the wolf.

The wolf appeared to be unaffected, but now spoke calmly.

"Come to the point boy. What do you want." It asked.

"I need to revive the seed of the tree in the wasteland. The ravine should lead me right to the wasteland, but a guide would help." Said Shinji.

"Haven't I helped you enough?" the wolf complained.

"Look, you're not helping me you're helping the planet. Whether you like all it's occupants or not isn't the point. The point is, if I don't make it no one does...wolves included." He said staring at the wolf.

The wolf simply stared into the sky. Shinji wasn't sure if he could read the wolf's expression or if the wolf, after having suffered through god knows what, even cared about his own kind. The wolf remained motionless for a minute, then began to walk slowly into the ravine. Shinji didn't follow at first, unsure whether or not the wolf was just trying to ignore him. However, after a few steps the wolf stopped and looked back at the boy.

"Well!" it said.

And with that Shinji gathered up the quivers and trailed behind the canine.

===== The lake bed, South of the Black mountains =====

"The Orcs will try to regroup, but so long as we pursue them they will not succeed." Gandalf advised Moro, who was only half listening.

Her snout was in the air. Slowly breathing in and out through her nostrils, she took in the scents that were coming to her, and telling her of the events in the surrounding area. To the East; panicking Orcs fleeing. To the South; the Hue city that was the Orcs' target, remained idle, but the stench of the plague still emanated from it. Nothing, but the usual to the West, but the North carried two faint scents that were soon gone. Turning to Gandalf, Moro told him what she knew.

"The boy...and a wolf whom I don't know, have entered the ravine." She said simply.

Gandalf stood for a moment, motionless, and turned his gaze to the Black mountains.

"They are beyond our sight, to say nothing of our aid...All we can do now his hold out for them to succeed." said Gandalf.

The wizard put his hand on Moro's back, as she sat there gazing to the North. They still had much to do, but Gandalf couldn't bring himself to remind her, as he too soon found himself staring Northward.

===== The Ravine of the Black Mountains =====

The wolf continued to move at a steady pace with Shinji slowly starting to fall behind. It seemed willing to walk in the direction of the wasteland, but was not willing to move at a pace Shinji was comfortable with or take breaks. The boy knew it was best not to complain about the pace, but it was still rough on his small body.

The saddle quivers were not designed to be carried by hand and were cumbersome. He sometimes doubted that the wolf really cared if Shinji was behind him or not, as he merely stared ahead, never once looking back.

Shinji had considered saying something to get its attention, but he had never been good at picking topics to start conversations. Having an E.S on his head didn't help either. He had almost asked how he'd become imprisoned by Orcs, but quickly dismissed that subject as too painful and unpleasant.

He wondered what wolves talked about. Hunting? Howling? Tail wagging? Given their amazing ability to speak, there had to be more to it than that. Red and Moro had known a great deal about life outside the forest, surly the must be some topic of conversation that would interest the wolf.

Of course starting a conversation off with "hey you" was not exactly the appropriate thing to do. At least Shinji now knew what to start with. Getting a name. Though even that seemed more complicated than it should have been. Fortunately, his manners told him that the right thing to do was to give his name first before asking for the name of someone else.

"By the way I'm called Shinji. Shinji Ikari." he said.

The wolf merely looked back and glanced at the boy as if to say "So?" and kept on walking. Shinji then decided that a more direct approach was a better strategy.

"I just thought you'd prefer to know what to call me." he said.

"fool or idiot works for me." the wolf replied.

Shinji expected that and was undaunted.

"So you'd be okay if I just referred to you as 'you idiot'?" Shinji asked.

The wolf stopped and looked back at the boy.

"So you wanna know my name." he said.

"It'd be nice." the boy replied.

"My name is unpronounceable in Hue tongue. As are most of our words." It took a breath before continuing. "We can make sounds that Hue ears cannot detect. With those sounds we made ten times as many words. So when we speak we can say a small paragraph in a syllable."

Shinji was honestly amazed. A language like that certainly had advantages. None the least of which was that it would be hard, if not impossible, to be interpenetrated by unfriendly forces. But, knowing this did not help Shinji in knowing how to address the wolf.

"So does your name mean something. Mine, or so I'm told, means 'Child of God'...Sounds silly I know, but it wasn't my idea." the boy said.

The wolf shook its head, knowing that the child would continue to pester him until he got an answer.

"My name, when translated, means, _the shadow haired one with blue eyes, who was born from an Alpha male and one of his beta females on a rainy day in the middle of the summer season to the pack that came from the land of the bulls, which run across the plains in the north_. Neat meaning huh?" The wolf said.

Being able to actually describe the circumstances regarding ones birth in a single word did make for very unique names. For all Shinji knew, there was some studio founder or mask wearing sword wielding lunatic with the same name as him. Still not having a name, the boy wondered if giving him a nickname was alright.

"So do the Hue call you have a name for you?" Shinji asked.

"Vermin" the wolf said flatly.

"I think I can come up with a better one." said the boy with an element of disgust.

"I already have a name. I don't need some half assed...little..." the wolf's rant drifted off as they came upon a ledge.

Shinji wondered why the wolf had stopped so suddenly, but did not speak up or rush towards the wolf. Instead he calmly walked up to where the wolf stood and looked out over the ledge. All he could see was the rapid river below him. Shinji was confused and was about to ask the wolf what was going on when he saw what direction it was looking in.

Following the direction of it gaze, he noticed that the path they were on lead into the river. Shinji looked to the opposite shore where the path should have continued, but there was nothing except a cliff face. Shinji didn't want to state the obvious, but had to know for sure and so spoke in a half questioning half stating tone.

"The path is washed out?" he said.

"Actually, the dry river bed was the path...The dammed up river...must have doubled the river's height." said the wolf confused.

The river was only a few yards across, but filled with rapids. Shinji remembered when Red XIII jumped into the river and nearly drowned and that river was only half as bad as this one. Worse, Red had only intended to cross the river, but now they had to follow it. Shinji began to wonder if not fighting the stream would help.

"Can I see the path farther down the river?"the boy asked.

"It leads up to the wasteland's entrance a few miles down...Why do you ask?" It looked at him worriedly.

"If I can float down the stream it should lead me to the wasteland." he said.

"You...won't make it. Even with a raft it is dangerous. Without one is suicide." The wolf said plainly.

"I have no choice but to keep moving forward no matter what. Thanks for the guidance, good bye." Shinji said as he gathered his things and made his way towards the river.

The wolf looked back and forth between the river and the boy. The chances of a full grown wolf surviving the river was slim, so there was no doubt that the boy would be dead before long. The wolf could think of only one way to cross the river, but lamented what it meant. Again he took a strong whiff of the air. Death was the only word that could accurately describe what he was smelling.

Although it was the death of Hue he detected, he knew death was extremely indiscriminate. How long before death came for the wolves? Death was death, whether it was in the form of a disease or an Orc, it didn't matter. And if death decided that now was the time to invoke extinction upon his kind, how would it be stopped? The wolf looked back at the boy once more and called out.

"Wait!" it said.

Shinji turned toward the wolf with curiosity, certain that the wolf had been glad to be rid of him, but as it approached he knew something else was worrying its mind.

"Yes?" Shinji replied.

"There is only one way for you to reach the wasteland now." it said.

Shinji looked questioningly as the wolf knelt down.

"Get on, but understand that this is just until we get there, then you're on foot." it said.

"You sure? I know you don't like the thought of a rider." said the boy.

"Stop talking and get on! The quicker you do the sooner we're through." the wolf spoke with some aggravation.

Shinji thought about continuing the conversation, but decided to trust the wolf's decision. Carefully he swung his leg over and gently grasped the wolf's fur. Once Shinji was on, the wolf walked back down the path a ways and stopped at the edge overlooking the river. Across the way was an open ledge. It looked just big enough for them to land on, but the distance was easily thirty yards.

"Think you can make it?" Shinji asked worried.

"...It's been awhile...but like you said, 'got no choice'" the wolf confessed.

With the last words spoken, the wolf backed up slowly until he touched the cliff wall behind him. After a few deep breaths the wolf lowered his head and charged the ledge. The acceleration forced Shinji to grab the fur tighter and his grip got even stronger as the empty space approached. At the last step the wolf launched itself in to the air.

Fear would have driven the boy's eyes shut, had it not been for the E.S. and his past fights with the angles. Shinji peered down and saw their shadow on the rushing river below as they sailed through the air. He then turned his gaze forward to see the opposite ledge come at them. They were too low. The wolf's front paws grabbed the ledge, but his hind legs and body slammed against the vertical edge.

The force of the impact threw the boy off the wolf's body, over its head, and dropping him on the ledge. Shinji recovered quickly and saw the wolf clawing at the loose dirt barely staying on. Rushing over, the youth grabbed around the canine's neck and began to pull.

"GET OFF!" It yelled.

"YOU REALLY WANNA FALL THAT BAD!" Shinji yelled back.

Feeling himself slip despite Shinji's help, the wolf gave no further argument. The clawing at the ground provided little help as most of the wolf's body was hanging off the edge. It's hind legs also tried clawing on the cliff face, but it too came loose at every movement. The situation looked bad. The wolf was about to shake Shinji off and hope that it might survive the fall when the boy spoke up.

"El Shadow." he said.

"WHAT?" the wolf asked confused.

"It's the name I'm giving you." Shinji explained.

"IS THIS REALLY THE TIME?" the wolf bellowed.

"It's as good as any." he said.

The wolf suddenly slipped several inches. Shinji kept talking acting like he didn't notice, except that he readjusted his grip to keep hold.

"Shadow is part of your wolf name. El is the Spanish word for 'the'. They had an event in Spain, 'The running of the bulls' you said you came from a land where bulls run, so instead of simply 'the shadow' you're El shadow. See?" Shinji finished.

"...That's stupid." The wolf said surprisingly calm as he slipped closer to falling.

"Yeah well if you die, that's the name I'm burying you with!" Shinji spoke hoping to anger the wolf into living.

It work. The wolf's right hind leg jammed it's claws deep into the cliff face. The action gave the canine enough grip to push itself up. Shinji now grasped the back hairs of the wolf's fur and pulled. Together they managed to pull the tired four legged body on to the ledge. The wolf stumbled across to a resting point and laid down.

Shinji remained where he was as both he and his canine companion spent several minutes in silence, save for their heavy breathing. The sun, high above them, slowly passed in to late noon as the long day for both of the beleaguered travelers continued. The silence threatened to go on until the wolf finally reclaimed his breath and spoke.

"Shadow-El." it said.

"Huh?" Shinji replied having completely forgotten what was said a few minute earlier.

"If I am to have a name you can say, I will have a say in what it is." The wolf paused before going on. "In wolf tongue words like 'the' come after a title, 'shadow the' if you will. So I will be Shadow-El."

The boy nodded his approval of the new name. After a few more minutes of rest Shadow-El stood and walked over to Shinji and knelt again. Without saying a word, he sat in on the wolf's back and held his fur like before and they were off. There were other jumps, but the worst was half the distance of the first.

Another hour of riding went by without much happening and Shinji began to feel as though the ravine would go on forever. But just before he was about to ask if Shadow-El would like a break, he felt the fur on his back go on end.

"What is it?" Shinji asked in a hushed voice.

"We're here." he replied.

Shadow-El's head was looking into a break in the cliff wall. It took the youth's eyes a few moments to adjust to the shadows in the break, but soon Shinji spotted the back wall. It was flat with the exception of some carved art work which resembled trees. In the middle of the wall a straight line running the height of it from top to bottom. However towards the bottom of the line was a circle.

As Shadow-El moved closer to the wall, Shinji began to see the circle in detail. It had a horizontal line running through it. The center of the line widened into a slot. Shinji peered into the slot but saw nothing.

"Use the sword." said Shadow-El

Shinji drew the weapon from its sheath and realized the slot and the broad side of the sword were about the same length. He inserted the weapon and when the hilt touched the wall he heard a click. He looked towards Shadow-El who nodded and then Shinji began to rotate the blade.

The circle turned with the blade. The boy continued to turn the sword until the line in matched up with the rest of the line on the wall. The instant that the two lines met, the wall split open like a gigantic sliding door. The light blinded Shinji for a moment but his eyes soon adjust and he beheld the Shadow wasteland.

His first thought was 'Hmm...Not what I was expecting.' The scenery before Shinji was not one of black barren rock and dark storm clouds, as he had expected, but rather a dry flat grassland and some rocky terrain with only a handful of notable features. The most noticeable of these was a castle like tower, to which a large stone bridge lead to it from where the duo were standing.

In Shinji's mind the only thing remarkable about the Shadow wasteland was that it was unremarkable. The short yellowish/brownish grass looked like it need to be watered rather badly and its look might account for the 'wasteland' part of the name, but it was hardly shadowy.

As the wolf walked toward the stone structure, Shinji continued looking for any signs of danger. He would have concluded there was no danger at were it not for the fact that the fur of his wolf companion was still standing on end. He also noticed that each step he took seemed cautious. The boy worried his wolf senses had found something.

"What is it? You smell something?" he asked.

"No. Nor see, nor hear...But...I can't shake this tense feeling of...something, I don't know what to call it. Just get ready for... whatever." the wolf said sounding a bit agitated.

The bridge lead right into the tower and the path immediately became a spiral walkway. Shadow-El followed the corkscrew path downward until they came to the base of the walkway. They walked around the water basin that adorned the floor to a corridor and ventured in.

The short corridor lead into massive hallway with sixteen gigantic statues, eight on each side of the hallway. The statues were of some bizarre creatures that vaguely resembled Aztec design. At the end of the hallway was an altar of some kind with an unsupported pillar above it and beyond that was the outside world.

As the two approached the altar like structure, Shinji could make out the form of a person laying on the altar. Shinji got off the wolf and walked over. What he found seemed to be some weird sculpture of a young woman wearing a mask. It did not match the art style of the other statues, but otherwise it was largely unimportant looking.

The one thing Shinji did see as important was that the statue appeared to be made of the same kind of petrified wood that the giant trees were. The only difference was that it was coated in a thin layer of some kind of amber. The mask showed the most color with its white angular face and red nose, which obscured the real face beneath it.

"The seed of a tree." Shadow-El said, sensing Shinji's confusion.

"This is what I've been looking for?" he commented, astonished at the sight of the discovery.

"Didn't anyone tell you that...SHINJI LOOK OUT!" the wolf yelled amid sentence.

Shinji spun around to face the commotion. Coming up from the floor were man shaped shadows and they were walking towards them. Wasting no time, Shinji drew his sword preparing for a fight. But the moment he did, the sword began to vibrate and glow.

The shadow men were suddenly blown away like a puff of smoke in a breeze. The black strands of smoke soon dissipated leaving only the memory of them behind. However before either of the two wanderers could discuss what had just happen a choirs of ominous voices spoke out from above them.

"Hmm? Thou possesses the Ancient sword? Thou art mortal...and yet thou art different..." The voices spoke in a strange unison.

"Who are you!" Shinji yelled upward.

"We are the ones known as Dormin." the voices replied.

Shinji heard Shadow-El's low growling, but ignored it as the issue at hand was clear.

"This girl behind me is the seed of a special kind of tree. I need her free of the seal. Please, open the seal." Shinji spoke calmly.

But an eerie laugh from above caused him to worry as Shadow-El's growl deepened.

"The seed was sealed with great skill and effort, never to be reopened by any. With that sword, however...it may not be impossible. That is of course, if thou manages to accomplish what we askest." the voices spoke with an uneasy sound of amusement.

The boy caught the eye of the canine to his left. Shadow-El stopped his growling for a moment and shook his head. Shinji seriously considered putting this whole affair to an end right here, but the consequences were far too high by this point. And so Shinji turned skyward again.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Behold the idols that stand along the wall...Thou art to destroy all of them. But those idols cannot be destroyed by the feeble hands of a mere mortal..." said the voices.

Shinji and Shadow-El exchanged a glance, before returning their gaze to the disembodied voices in the sky.

"In this land there exist colossi that are the incarnations of those idols. If thou defeat those colossi, the idols shall fall." the voices finally explained.

All Shinji could think was 'I am never going to catch a break, am I?' as he realized what was being asked of him. Angels, Seele Evas, Ko-Dan, Spartans, Orcs, spiders, wolves and now colossi. It was not a peaceful, easy life that he lived. And without the E.S. (Now down to it's third dot) Shinji wouldn't live it at all.

"But heed this, the price you pay may be heavy indeed." somehow, the voices did not sound sincere with their concern. "I'm not worried about that." Shinji didn't believe he had anything left, but his life, he didn't value that much, so the choice was easy enough.

"Very well. Raise thy sword by the light and head to the place where the sword's light gathers. There, thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat." with that, the voices fell silent.

Walking over to the edge of the building where it opened up to the outside, Shinji raised up the sword. He had raised it so that the edge of the blade was towards him. As the light hit it, beams of light came off of it and angled in different directions. Shinji turned the blade to look at it, but noticed that as it moved, the beams changed their angle on the sword. Figuring out now what the Dormin was saying, Shinji slowly rotated the blade. As he did the beams of light slowly converged into one single beam. It pointed towards a near by rocky area, almost directly across the way from the tower. Shinji sheathed the sword and walked towards Shadow-El.

"Alright, I think we need to head~" Shinji was cut off. "Oh no! I said I'd take you to the Shadow wasteland and here you are!" the wolf spoke quickly.

"But, I could use your help." the boy said in surprise.

"No! I did my part! This is the problem of the Hue, not the Wolf!" the canine said again, but it wasn't angry sounding.

Shinji deduced that the reason Shadow-El was acting this way was out of fear. Just like he had when he stood before the Evangelion for the first time. But unlike his father, Shinji was empathetic to the wolf's feelings and had no intention of forcing upon another a hardship the way it had once been done to him.

"You're right Shadow-El. You have done more than you promised. I thank you." with that said, the youth bowed steeply.

Shadow-El looked on a bit surprised that the argument ended so abruptly in his favor. Shinji placed the saddle quivers, still full of a multitude of arrows on the ground next to the alter. Walking off to the left he found stairs leading out, but just before he reached them, Shadow-El spoke out.

"You shouldn't do this! Something about all of this is wrong! Forget what you saw here, go home, and say it didn't work and that you need to find another way!" Shadow-El said hurriedly.

"You know that's not possible. This is the only option. The only thing left for me to do." Shinji said as he walked down the stairs.

Once outside Shinji began to walk straight towards the rocky area, but he soon heard the foot steps of a four legged animal behind him.

"Only thing left? Look I don't know where you come from, but you're not sick! Just get off world and away from it all!" Shadow-El complained.

"I am actually sick. I won't show the symptoms until the very end." Shinji explained. Shadow-El fell silent. Shinji went on. "My home world died long ago with everyone I cared for. There is no point for me to return to anywhere because there is nothing for me to return to. I will try to do this, but if you're worried about my success...I wouldn't be to concerned about my chances." He said as he continued to walk.

Shadow-El spoke up once more in frustration.

"Fine than! Go and get killed or unleash, the Great Spirits only know what! I just thought I'd impart some wisdom! But leave it to a Hue to be too ignorant to get it!" He yelled.

Shinji continued towards his next destination as the sun was slowly making its way down to the western horizon. After a few minutes of walking Shinji looked back and was surprised to see Shadow-El still there, pacing back and forth in front of the building. Part of Shinji wanted to go back, but decided that it was best to get this task over with as soon as he could.

It didn't take Shinji all that long to reach the edge of the rocky terrain. Checking the sword again, the light indicated that he should go up. There were several ledges and vines along the cliff face and it didn't take long for Shinji to find footing. Shinji had climbed up only a few yards when the ground shook beneath him.

"What the hell?" he said confused.

The tremor stopped quicker than it started, but left Shinji unnerved. I hadn't felt like an earthquake. It felt like an Eva had just made a knew his target was close and carefully continued the climb. After a few more minutes and a half dozen close calls Shinji reached the top. There he beheld the first of the colossi. I was a monstrous sized minotaur with a stone club. It paced back and forth along the ridge oblivious to the tiny boy's presents. It's body was a mix of stone structure and dark hair. Its in human glowing eyes were open and seemed like dots on the massive body.

"Of all the times to be without an Eva..." Shinji cursed.

Attacking the beast seemed as monstrous a task as the colossus looked. The only weak spot (if it could be called such a thing) was its eye, but hitting it, even with an arrow, was a challenge for even the best of archers. And, although it would be painful and blinding, a shot to the eyes was hardly fatal. Then, Shinji heard the voices of Dormin.

"Thou must use the Ancient sword and strike at the symbol where it is weak." they said.

Now Shinji felt like he had a chance. He suspected that the sword would use the light to show its weak spot and stabbing it there would make even the deadliest giant fall. Shinji was right about the sword. It did point a beam of light towards the weakness of the colossus. Unfortunately, it pointed at the head of the massive creature. For some reason Shinji was not surprised. Why should his rather lousy luck change now?

The youth was working on a plan of attack, when the colossus spotted the gleam of light off the sword and charged at it, raising its club above its head. The boy ducked away just as the truck size rock came down. Shinji ran under the beast's legs, swinging his sword in an attempt to hurt it. Shinji struck it in its black hair, However it felt like he'd hit solid sword bounced off having done no damage and the boy had to roll away again to avoid a giant hand from grabbing him.

But as Shinji stood he noticed something odd. On one knee of the giant was a dark blue glow. If it had been red, Shinji would have said it was an open sore. And since he didn't know what their blood looked like, he wouldn't have been shocked if someone told him it was blue and glowed. He ran away from the minotaur, towards the other end of the ridge. The sore was too high up to get with his sword, but perhaps an arrow would suffice.

Sheathing the blade and taking up his bow, Shinji waited for the beast to turn. It spotted him as soon as it did, but Shinji also spotted his target. He released the arrow upon seeing it. The giant moved faster than the boy expected, but not fast enough. The arrow hit its mark and the monster stumbled towards Shinji. He began to run as the towering creature came down, but a second later its head landed next to him.

Taking the chance, he slung the bow over his shoulder and climbed up on the beast. The colossus rose again, this time with Shinji on the back of its neck. The sense of touch in the creature must have been very weak, for it was oblivious to Shinji's location as it looked around for him. The boy reached the top of its head and drew the sword. When he did a light blue glowing symbol appeared.

He swung the sword at the symbol, but it bounced off, not like it had hit stone, but like some kind of rubber. Shinji changed his grip, preparing to stab the symbol rather than slice at it. However, the colossus's weak spot must have been sensitive enough to detect the first blow and it began to thrash about. Shinji held on as he was tossed about like a rag doll. His left hand held the black hairs with a full grip, but his right had to grip the sword as well as the hairs. Fortunately, the thrashing didn't last long.

The beast looked left and right expecting the boy to have fallen and the assumption gave Shinji the break he needed. He raised the sword as high as he could then slammed it down, stabbing deep into the creature's head. An oily black liquid sprayed from the point of impact and the mammoth beast let out an ear splitting cry. A moment later it came crashing to the ground. The boy held onto the sword and tucked the rest of his body in as they hit the ground. Shinji rolled a few feet then stopped.

After a few moments pause, he got up and looked around. The beast was making a few settling sounds, but was clearly slain. Shinji noted that his only injury was a mildly sprained ankle. Considering that his first fight with an angel made him feel like his arm had been snapped in two and that his head had been impaled on a spike, he thought it a relief he was unharmed. A sprained ankle didn't even rank when compared with jumping into lava, having a beam burn into your chest, or having your arm shot off completely.

"Who knew that bring down something so large could...be...so...What the...?" Shinji stopped amid comment as he noticed several tendril like objects moving around.

The black objects moved slowly like snakes and then gathered in number. Suddenly they came right at Shinji. He never had time to react as they impaled him through the chest and stomach. The boy coughed out a puff of black smoke as he fell to his knees. Shinji had suspected he would fail, but he was honestly surprised that this was how it would end.

The world went dark for him as he felt his body crumble to the ground.

**To be continued.

* * *

**

**Credits**

Shinji = _Neon Genesis Evangelion_

Moro = _Princess Mononoke_

Wolf Link/Shadow-El = _Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess_

Red XIII = _Final Fantasy VII_

Gandalf = _Lord of the Rings_

Eruru + Aruru = _Utawarerumono_

Major Motoko Kusanagi = _Ghost in the Shell S.A.C._

Dormin = _Shadow of the Colossus_

**Closing Notes**

Happy New Year! Thanks for reading. _Zidane Ace._


	9. Chapter 8

**WARNING:** This fan-fic _will_ contain violence, language, adult themes, angst, names of made up alien people, items, worlds, etc and cameos from other anime and TV shows. It could also contain depictions of nudity and sex later on, so brace yourself!

Disclaimer: Guess what? I own absolutely nothing contained in this fan-fic! Be it Eva or any other show I will give credit to.

_**Evangelion: The Death God War**_

**Chapter 8: White Knight**

Centuries ago on Sirece, Orcs once became a highly organized army that used fear and violence to conquer the main land. The disjointed lords of the time, sent army after army against them, but each was crushed as they became overwhelmed by fear. In a desperate bid for survival, everyone capable of combat met the Orc army at the southern low lands. The small Sireceien army took up a defensive posture as the Orc army marched toward them. However, before the Orc army reached them, a single soldier, dressed in shining bright armor, charged out to meet the Orcs head on. Despite being surrounded, the warrior fought and defeated several Orcs. Spurred on by the heroic act, the rest of the Sireceien army joined him. Before long, the Orc's greatest weapon, fear, was turned against them, and they were routed. After a week's chase the Orcs were driven from the main land. The brave warriors name was never discovered, as he disappeared, but to this day, any warrior who shows courage against overwhelming force, in order to lead and inspire others to heroism is dubbed a White Knight.

* * *

"_We were right. He is different. We can use him. If he lives long enough to defeat the colossi, yes. Yes we can use him._"

===== Tower in the Shadow wasteland, Some time later =====

Shinji felt his groggy state begin to fade as he tried to decipher what the blurry images in front of him were. After another minute, the world focused again and he clearly made out the shape of the altar that held the seed. He wasn't sure if he was fully awake though, as he could have sworn there was a man standing over him.

It disappeared when Shinji blinked. Leaving him to look around the large open room. The sound of crumbling rock drew his attention to the back. He watched as one of the idols collapsed into rubble. He got up to look around and make sure he was alone, but the sound of foot steps told him there was another present.

"What was that sound?" Shadow-El asked.

Shinji pointed to the destroyed statue as he got up. Shadow-El looked at it, then back at Shinji and he took on an even more quizzical look.

"Wait, how the hell did you get here? I saw you head to the cliff only a few minutes ago, but I didn't see you come back." the wolf asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

Shinji just shook his head.

"I don't know. I remember bringing down the colossus, then...I think...something stabbed me...then I was here." the boy finished his story then looked around. "Did you see anyone else here?" he asked.

"No, but this place is messing with my nose so bad, who knows what else is here." Shadow-El admitted.

The boy nodded and looked around once more to confirm that they were alone. The only change in the room was that there were now fifteen idols instead of sixteen. At first Shinji concluded he was alone, but then realized that, that wasn't accurate.

"I thought you were leaving?" the boy asked the wolf.

The wolf, caught of guard for a moment, took a second to think of an excuse.

"...I...was, but I realized that...the damage would be done whether I was here or not, so there really isn't a point to my leaving is there." Shadow-El said in his best serious tone.

Had it not been for his E.S., Shinji would have smiled slightly at the wolf's poor excuse for a lie. He didn't know why the wolf stayed, but having him there made the task seem slightly less impossible then before. He started to walk to his four legged companion, when an eerie choir of voices came from above.

"Thy next foe can be found in a sea side cave. It moves slowly." said the voices of Dormin.

After that the voices were silent. Shinji shook his head at the commanding nature of the voices. Of all the things Shinji missed about Earth, being bossed into harms way was not among them. Shinji then turned back to Shadow-El.

"Well since you're here..." Shinji began.

"You want me to help." Shadow-El finished.

"If you're damned if you do and damned if you don't, might as well take the quickest route out." said the boy.

Shadow-El nodded and walked down the steps with Shinji close behind. Once outside Shinji drew his sword and turned it till the beams of light became one. It pointed in almost the opposite direction as the first colossus. Upon seeing the direction the wolf knelt and allowed the boy on, and took off the moment he was seated.

It didn't take long for the canine to reach their destination. The shadow wasteland contained a large body of water, which could have been the size of one of the North American Great Lakes. They walked along the edge of the cliff face that bordered the sea.

Before long, a beach came into view. At first it appeared as though the beach was completely isolated by the high cliffs. However, Shadow-El's keen senses lead them to a zig-zag path down to the sandy ground. It didn't take long to locate the enormous cave sealed by a massive door.

Shinji started to get down from Shadow-El, to inspect the door. But the instant his first foot hit the ground, the door was shattered as a large bull like colossus charged them. The boy, fortunately, still gripped the wolf's fur and was pull along as the canine's reflexes caused him to bolt away from the on coming attack.

"'_MOVES SLOWLY_' MY FURRY TAIL!" Yelled Shadow-El as he narrowly avoided being stomped on.

Somehow, Shinji managed to get back on the wolf as he darted to the left of the colossus. Despite the colossus's charging speed, it turned very slowly, taking one awkward step at a time. It's massive front hoofs gave it great traction when going forward, but hindered it's sideways movements.

Shadow-El moved behind the monstrous bull and remained there simply by trotting. Taking the break in action, Shinji drew his sword and looked for the weak point. To his chagrin, but not his surprise, the light pointed to the creature's back.

"How the hell do we get to that?" Shadow-El asked.

Like with the first colossus, there was a strange black fur across the creature's side and back. Unfortunately, also like the first colossus, it was too up high on it's body for him to reach from the ground. Shinji wondered if there was an open sore on this beast too.

However, the colossus appeared invulnerable. Shinji shot a few arrows into its side, but the beast was completely oblivious to them. Shadow-El ran a U pattern back and forth behind the colossus three times before Shinji was convinced no weakness existed there. There was only one place left to check.

"Run around front." he said.

"WHAT?" the wolf exclaimed.

"Look, if we can't find a break in its defenses, we're dead. Head to the front. I'll shoot it in the eyes if I have to!" Shinji replied.

Shadow-El grumbled, but started making his way around front without another word. Shinji was looking for some kind of opening when suddenly the colossus reared up on it's hind legs and put them over the duo's heads. Thankfully, this was not done quickly enough to catch the speeding wolf.

"You alright?" asked the boy.

"No...I'm not hurt, but I'm not alright." the wolf grumbled.

"Huh?" Shinji said, confused by the statement.

"There are open sores on the bottom of its feet." he explained.

The boy looked back towards the front of the colossus. It had left two deep imprints on the ground where the hooves had landed. This left the pair with only one option, get in front and let it try to stomp on them, while Shinji tries to shoot it with an arrow. Not the safest of plans, but the only one available.

Without being instructed, Shadow-El dashed towards the front of the beast. Shinji knotted an arrow as they came around to face the beast. This shot was going to be especially hard, as Shinji hadn't seen the sores and he had only a second to aim and let the arrow fly. Plus, he had to do this while riding Shadow-El.

If he missed, the colossus would have an easy target as they weren't dashing away like before. But it was too late to turn back. When the colossus spotted them, it reared up on its hind legs, exposing the open sores. To the boy's astonishment, The process of aiming, pulling back, and releasing the arrow, took less than a second.

It wasn't his best shot, but it did what was needed. The pain of the arrow strike caused the colossus to rear up even further. The extra movement put the colossus off balance and it toppled onto its side. Shadow-El rushed up to its floundering side and dropped off the boy before getting some distance between him the beast.

Shinji grabbed onto the black hairs that were now in reach and pulled himself up. He was half way up the creature's side when it clamored back onto its feet. The beast looked as though it was trying to shake the boy off, but its bulky form made its movements slow and predictable, making the climb up fairly easy.

Once he was on the creature's back, Shinji drew his sword. The symbol lit up a few steps away from him, near the creature's rump. The boy made no snide comments about the location of the symbol as it was close and promised to bring this task to an end.

Raising the sword up, then stabbing downward was easy enough as it was relatively flat on the creature's back. Shinji left the blade imbedded in the beast and held on as it began to thrash about. The black oily blood sprayed for several seconds as the colossus quaked. But then, both the spray of blood and thrashing ceased, and the colossus remained upright.

"...What the...?" Shinji asked himself in confusion.

Shinji stabbed the spot again, this time without the same results as the first time. He continued to strike at the spot until he took the blade out completely, thinking that he needed to 're-activate' the symbol. However the beam of light pointed away from its original location toward the creature's head.

"Ah come on!" Shinji said in frustration despite his E.S.

The beast was now moving more erratically, now that it was aware of the attacker on its back. Though it looked like a straight path to the head of the creature, the wobbling made for slow and dangerous going. As he moved towards the symbol on the beast's head, he prayed that the third colossus didn't have three, the fourth have four, the fifth have five, and so on.

"I'll die of exhaustion before one of these things actually manages to kill me." the boy remarked.

Unfortunately for Shinji, reaching the head was the easy part, trying to stay on it while it swung it wildly was another matter altogether. The head bucked from side to side causing the boy to lose his footing. If the beast had kept its head to the one side it had moved to, Shinji would have fallen off for sure.

Thankfully, the beast, still attempting to throw the young boy off, swung its head back under his body giving him the opportunity to grab hold of the hairs on its head. Shinji pulled himself back up as the colossus continued to shake its head.

Once his body was again on the head of the four legged beast Shinji started moving toward the symbol, with a minor adjustment. He remained in the prone position and crawled to the symbol. The added stability allowed him to reach the area with less trouble.

"Time to end this." he said.

Shinji, in the kneeling position, raised his sword. Using his free hand kept him from being thrown as the thrashing continued. With no other countermeasures from the beast, Shinji drove his blade into the dark creature and, like its predecessor, the black liquid sprayed from the point of impact.

The colossus let out a painful roar and shook violently, only this time, the beast toppled over, dead. The head of the animal came to rest at enough of an angle that Shinji could slide down with easy. He surveyed the aftermath of the battle and the colossus's settling corpse.

The sound of foot falls behind him caused him to look over his shoulder. Shadow-El approached with a look that seemed almost to resemble concern. In case it was, Shinji gave the wolf a thumbs up. The wolf smirked at first, then, suddenly, took on a look that was clearly that of horror.

"SHINJI LOOK~" Shadow-El tried to warn the boy of the danger, but it came to late.

Shinji turned his head around just in time to see the black tendrils slam into his chest and abdomen. He had forgotten that he had intended to run this time and now it was too late. All the boy could do, as darkness invaded his eyes, was hope he woke up again in the tower.

Shadow-El rushed over to see if anything could be done for the boy, but he feared the worst. A quick inspection of the body, however, indicated no sign of external wounds. For a moment it appeared that he was still breathing, but before the wolf could inspect him further, the boy's body was suddenly covered in shadow.

Slowly, the shadows grew darker until the boy's body was made to be a dark orb with no color at all. Then the dark mass dissolved into the ground. Shadow-El was stunned, but unlike any other on-looker, it wasn't because he didn't understand what had happened. He was surprised because he knew exactly what this was.

"Dark Walk! Only terrifyingly powerful beings can..." Shadow-El's explanation ended when he realized there was no one listening.

He suspected that the boy had been transported back to the tower, like with the first colossus, and started towards the stone structure. There were many rumors regarding Dark Walk, but the one ability that all agreed did exist was that one could move into a shadow and be quickly transported to another location. Hence it's name.

No one denied that it was an effective means of travel, but all who knew of is existence, suspected that teleportation was just the tip of a very large iceberg. As the sun finally sank beneath the horizon, Shadow-El seriously contemplated the fate of the world. Fail, and the plague wiped out all life. But the cure could actually lead to an even darker conclusion.

"Is there any hope for the condemned?" Shadow-El asked of the red horizon, as he sprinted toward the tower.

===== Capital City, 1 day later =====

"CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT NOW!" yelled the Major, as Ko-dan soldiers charged down the tunnel.

About half of the secret entrances to the city had been used and sealed to attack the Ko-dan, but the rest had remained idle since the Queen had halted the strikes to prevent further losses. Kusanagi, needing the troops and feeling that the remaining exit were hidden well enough, put the remainder of her forces on the wall.

Unfortunately, enemy scouts had located one of the tunnels and a platoon of Ko-dan were attempting to breach the city. The location of the tunnel's city entrance was also a problem as it was near one of the generators for the city's hyper-field.

Normally the loss of a single generator was not a problem, but the weakened power supply on the generators, meant that the loss of one could put too much of a strain on the others and bring the whole field down. It came as no surprise to anyone how fierce the fighting for it had been.

Eventually, the Major had pushed the Ko-dan back far enough to allow her one remaining explosives expert to plant charges in the tunnel. The only problem was that the enemy was now re-enforced and threatening to over run the dozen or so defenders holding the tunnel.

Before the Major and her troops had reached the exit, she called out to explosives expert to detonate the bombs. If the Ko-dan reached them first and disarmed them, the chances of holding and pushing them back a second time were slim.

The sound of the blast was deafening and knocked the Major off her feet. Her cybernetic eyes blurred out and for a second. She was blind. When her vision returned she first looked herself over. Her arm was damaged and its internal parts were showing, but the arm still functioned.

She had suffered far worse blows to her prosthetic body and in terms of cyborgs, this was just a scrape. Others around her were not so luck. Though the Major had been closest to the blast, the shrapnel went in all directions and struck several soldiers.

Most were able to get up and walk, but one had had both legs destroyed. Fortunately, he was a full body cyborg and so, was not truly maimed, but he was out of the fight until the legs were replaced. With doctors preoccupied with their ailing patients, the replacement would have to wait until after the crisis; if there was an after.

Though the blast had not proved fatal to the fighters, the battle for the tunnel had come at a cost. Motoko walked past six blanket covered bodies. She didn't know any of them by name, and for some reason that bothered her more than if she had known them. Oboro approached and she turned to speak.

"Flood all of the remaining tunnels. Start with those closest to vital areas." She said without a hint of emotion.

"Don't you wanna leave one open? Just in case we wanna make an escape attempt." he replied.

"Pointless." She said flatly.

The only tunnel left that let out behind enemy lines was the far most eastern one. It ended up at a small cluster of trees surrounded by a massive plain. It meant that any escape would have to be done at night, and even then, the people escaping would have to be healthy enough to get away by sunrise. The only healthy people left were the ones defending the city. And the Major was not leaving.

Only a handful of people remained. Most of them were not even soldiers, just volunteers with no battle experience. The line was stretched so thin that there were barely enough people to put in pairs to guard any place of importance.

If they were luck, sealing the remaining tunnels would buy them a few more days. After that, the hyper-shield would collapse and the Ko-dan could practically walk in. She doubted anyone would be shown mercy. The only question left was which was a worse death; disease or Ko-dan. Motoko chased the thought from her mind as she moved toward the Palace.

===== Palace Medical room 418, a half hour later =====

Eruru looked over at her sister, but had trouble focusing. The combination of medication and illness had put her in a strong haze and she could barely see anything. She could hardly be described as coherent and it came as no shock to the Major that the Queen did not notice her entrance.

"Your Highness." She spoke softly.

Kusanagi knelt down beside the Queen's bed and held the younger woman's hand. The small princess behind her, amazingly, slept soundly. At least there had been no quarrel over whether or not the sisters would share a room. Normally, patients were separated, even when they had the same disease. But the shear enormity of the situation had made that impossible.

"Mo...to...ko..." the young woman moaned out.

"I'm here. We've had to...we've had to seal off all of the tunnels out of the city. The Ko-dan found one today. We can't risk them finding another." She said.

"A...ru...ru..." The Queen called out meekly again.

"She's right here and stable for the time being. She's asleep and she is predicted to stay that way til...until this is over." Motoko did her best to make it sound like she believed there would be a happy ending.

"Sh...in...ji..." The young woman's voice refused to gain strength.

"There...there has been no word or indication...that he made it...I'm sorry that~" The Major was cut off by a weak voice.

"Mo...th...er" said the Queen.

"W-what?" Motoko asked in confusion.

"Mot...her...Fath...er...A...ruru...Mo...to...ko...Broth...er..." Eruru continued to list off names without direction.

Motoko understood then that she had just wasted her time. Eruru probably hadn't heard a word she had just said and was only calling out to those who she cared for. Motoko was touched that she was on the list, but also surprised that the boy was on it as well.

What had gotten Shinji in such high standing with the Queen was beyond the Major. Perhaps it was his willingness to save Aruru, his patients with the angered Queen and his aid to her after she berated him and fell ill, or maybe Eruru had wanted a brother just like Aruru. In the end, the reason didn't matter.

"Well kid, your our last, desperate, faint hope...It really does suck to be you." Kusanagi said to the air.

===== Shadow wastelands =====

Shinji, bow fully drawn, aimed for the massive flying wyvern. Shinji let the arrow fly hitting the behemoth's third air sack and causing it to drop in altitude. The wing like structures of the beast struck sand and were dragged along as the colossus continued to fly.

"That's it! Get me in close Shadow!" the boy yelled.

The wolf was already on his way, but he didn't chastise him for telling him to go or by using the short version of his nickname. The day had been long. Giant monstrosity after another for nearly twelve hours straight would test any beings patience and Shadow-El knew neither of them would last if he got frustrated over things like that.

Running along side the beast was easy enough, even though the wolf had to run at full speed. The hard part was getting over to the colossus itself. The dragging wing zig-zagged on the ground and kicked up a small wall of sand and rock. This meant that Shadow-El had to keep a few feet distance making the jump even harder.

Shinji did his best to stand on the running wolf and prepare for the jump. His body was covered in bruises. Most of them had come from the dozen or so colossi that he had fought, each one putting a few new scrapes or cuts.

But many of the injuries that the boy had sustained had come from just try to climb on the beast. This would be his third attempt and he'd nearly broken his leg on the last one. Shinji had less than half a dose left in his E.S. And there was no telling what would happen if he still had a giant or two and no meds.

Still, there was nothing for it. All the boy could do was struggle on. With one final deep breath, Shinji lunged at the stone like wing. At about this time the air sacks of the creature had sealed and re-inflated. The colossus's wings began to pick up off the ground. Fortunately, they actually aided Shinji as they came up underneath him.

Instead of having to climb the wing, Shinji ran across to the creature's main body. For the first time in any of the fights, the boy could actually take a moment's breath. If he wasn't riding on a dangerous creature that he had to destroy, the view and smooth flight would have been pleasant.

Shinji, however shook off the relaxing feeling and drew his sword. The light revealed a symbol directly in front of him. As he cautiously approached the symbol, he checked for some kind of trap or hidden appendage that would strike at him.

'Oh this seems way too easy...' Shinji thought flatly.

However, it appeared as though the symbol was defenseless. Still on guard, Shinji raised his blade above his head and slammed it down. As like with all of the others before it a black oily geyser erupted from the point of impact as the colossus screeched.

The creature immediately shuddered violently and the boy struggled to maintain balance. Instinctively, Shinji knew he wasn't done. He raised the sword again, this time in search of more symbols. To his surprise, the blade actually warned him of more than one.

One beam of light pointed to the beast's head, while the other indicated the tail. Hoping that a blow near the back of the colossus's head might cripple it, he made his way to the fore symbol. The violent shaking made for slow going, but after so many brutal assaults, it was a minor obstacle.

Like the first one, Shinji found the symbol unguarded. It could be normal for a flying creature to not need add protection for something on its back, but Shinji was still wary. Bracing himself for another volley of violent quakes, Shinji drove the sword into the symbol.

Again the symbol burst into an oily geyser and the beast roared in pain, only this time the shuttering stopped. Instead, the colossus dove towards the ground below. Now fearing the creature would wait under ground until healed, Shinji bolted for the last symbol as the ground he stood on began to fall away.

Shinji ran harder than he had in his whole life, but still, he began to feel an increase in the angle of the beast's body. As he neared the final symbol, he made the error of looking over his shoulder. The body behind him fell away like an approaching waterfall, but that wasn't the real problem.

Not looking where he was going, the boy tripped over a bump and fell face first. Looking straight ahead, Shinji saw the symbol a few feet away. Feeling the incline becoming drastically steeper, he lunged at it. The sword came in at on odd angle, but it still worked.

The boy managed to see through the oily spray and see the ground fast approaching and the body of the colossus coming down on top of him. Waiting till the last moment, Shinji jumped to the side and landed with a dull thud.

Fortunately, he wasn't going very fast, however, it still hurt like hell. The colossus came crashing down around him in a tangled mess. It continued to thrash about threatening to crush the boy and the wolf that made its way to him. But after a few seconds the beast fell silent and motionless.

Shadow-El trotted up to Shinji. Now that the colossus was dead there was little need of his aid. The boy stood, but just barely. Though he appeared to have sustained no major injuries, his body was sore and fatigued. Shadow-El would have recommended that the boy rest here, but could not stop what always happened after the death of these monsters.

The black tendrils struck him and absorbed him into darkness once more, and the wolf was forced to take the long way back. He glanced westward as he ran back to the tower and saw the final part of the sun finally disappear below the horizon.

"Well at least this day is over with." the wolf commented.

===== Ten minutes later =====

To Shadow-El's surprise, Shinji did not consider the day finished. He was walking down the steps of the tower holding the sword up. The beams of light were nearly gone, but the boy made out the direction indicated. He began to move in that direction as Shadow-El confronted him.

"What are you doing?" the wolf asked.

"...What are you talking about?...That wasn't the last colossus." he replied in a weary voice.

"It is for today! You need rest. In your current state, all the next one has to do is breath on you and that'll be the end of it." the wolf argued.

"It was always a long shot." the boy said.

"LONG SHOT! Look back in that building boy!" Shadow-El yelled.

"I've seen. Still three more!" he said trying to yell back.

"Three that were once sixteen! It was a long shot this morning, it's a fighting chance now!" the wolf pleaded.

"You wanna wait here while the whole world slow dies, fine!" Shinji said, surprisingly with a hint of anger.

"Better to wait one more night for a real chance at salvation, than to wait an eternity over foolishness!" the wolf countered.

"FOOLISHNESS! FOOLISHNESS! You don't know what real foolishness is! Foolishness is expecting a boy to fight monsters in machine he's never seen! Foolishness is hoping that not seeing him for over a decade and believing he's still your father! FOOLISHNESS IS THINKING A STUPID KISS IS GOING TO BE ENOUGH!" Shinji screamed.

Shinji pulled the cross off his neck and turned away, raising his hand high over his head. The arm moved fiercely in a pitching motion. But, his hand remained closed, clenching the cross. The boy tried to just release it, but even this proved to be impossible, so he just held it and stood there looking into space.

Shadow-El closed his eyes. He knew the boy was hoping to die. The E.S. kept him form simple suicide, but, with the meds failing, going into a kill-zone was now a likely possible. He didn't want to show the boy what he saw happen to him over the course of the day, hoping he'd notice on his own, but he needed the boy to see his current state. And see it now.

"You think death is the only thing out here? Go look in the mirror! Look in the mirror and if you still wanna march off to destruction, I'll take you there myself!" said Shadow-El, gambling that the promise of a ride would halt him.

It worked. Shinji's mind at this point, was a confused mess. The waning meds, the stress of battle, and the ever present knowledge that people were dying, had put Shinji back on the brink. Even walking felt like an emotional war. Riding Shadow-El had been a tremendous help.

Reluctantly, Shinji turned back towards the tower. At the base of the steps was a fountain that had a mirror. Before looking in the reflective object, the boy washed his face of the blood and dirt that had accumulated over the day.

Oddly, Shinji couldn't tell whether the water was cold or hot, but didn't linger on the thought. After another second, the boy looked into the reflective surface. At first everything appeared to be in order. There were scrapes and bruises, but that was expected. Shinji was about to look away when he noticed something.

He appeared to look gray in the mirror. At first Shinji thought his vision was going. Between drugs, a plague, and all the beatings he recently taken, it wouldn't surprise him. But then, he saw a tree in the background of the mirror's refection. It still held its color.

To confirm that it wasn't a trick mirror, Shinji held up his hand and looked at it compared to Shadow-El. Sure enough the wolf's vibrant colors remained, while his own hand held a dull color. Shinji lowered it. He looked up. Stars were slowly beginning to dot the sky as night conquered the day. The boy looked at the wolf.

"Every time you get pulled into the shadows, you lose a piece of yourself or...worse...a piece of something comes back with you." Shadow-El said with a hint of worry.

Shinji, at one point in his life might have asked why it was worse that he not come back in one piece, but that was long ago. Now, the boy wondered if they were doing the right thing. What if defeating these colossi did nothing for reviving the seed? And could they handle what it did revive?

Weary, and knowing that time should be taken to think about this new turn of events, Shinji walked to a near by tree. Shadow-El followed. The wolf decided to lay down, as he realized he was, himself, exhausted. The boy on the other hand remained upright.

Shadow-El could see that he was clearly in the midst of deep thought. From time to time the young man would look at his exposed arms and the gray that was imbedded in them, then out into space. After a few minutes of this, Shinji took out his sword. Shadow-El protested.

"Now wait a minute! I thought you understood that~" The wolf's argument was cut short.

"I'm not going anywhere. It's just..." Shinji began then stopped.

"Just what?" Shadow-El wondered.

"...I thought...the sword...it looked liked it...cracked." He said as if he knew the statement was too absurd.

The wolf pondered this statement before speaking.

"You don't think it was just that oily stuff on the blade?" the wolf asked hoping to alleviate the boy's worries.

"I did at first, but I've seen it before, and every time I see it, it looks worse. I think the sword is...weakening." Shinji hoped that what he said didn't sound stupid.

But the wolf took this information very seriously. He breathed in deeply and nodded understandingly. For all either of them knew the sword could in fact be breaking under the stress of the dark magic around them. Shadow-El knew the sword was itself magic and that it was used to strike down the wicked. Breaking it would be a victory for evil.

There was, however, little that could be done about it and so Shinji re-sheathed the blade and set it down. The boy, now deciding to take his companion's advice and rest, began to lie down next to the massive canine. At the last second, Shadow-El's body shifted and Shinji's head came to rest on the fore left shoulder of the wolf.

Shinji looked over his shoulder and saw Shadow-El nod his head at the boy. Perhaps this was his reward for today's actions. Shinji looked up to the now darkened sky and admired the multitude of stars, in spite of his E.S. It brought back a memory. A time when he was part of a team of three and a city cast into darkness.

"_Man fears darkness and scrape it away with fire to survive_." He said. "A poem?" asked Shadow-El. Shinji shook his head.

"A girl and comrade in arms said it once." He replied.

"Oh...close friend?" The wolf asked in his first attempt at small talk.

"I tried to be, but we never full connected...I...wish I hadn't failed her like that." he said as if Rei were his responsibility.

Shadow-El didn't immediately respond to this, but stared off into the darkness. After a moment he sniffed the air and caught the scent of something he'd been smelling since he met Shinji. It was somewhat faint but he could discern the scent's characteristics and now had to know the truth behind it.

"Shinji?" he began.

"Yes Shadow?" Shinji used the short version to see if he minded. Which apparently he didn't.

"Did you know that my sense of smell is impressive even for my kind." said the canine.

"Oh really? How good is it?" he asked, not minding the chance to bond.

"So good that I can tell if I'm smelling a man or a woman, and if it's a child or an adult." Shadow-El answered.

"Neat." Shinji did his best to compliment.

Shadow-El was cautious with his next comments, because he could also tell if what he smelled was the normal permeation of a person or their blood. And what he smelled was blood. Taking one more deep breath, he asked the question that nagged him most.

"Who is the woman who's scent comes from that object around your neck? It's powerful. She must have worn it for years and you, a few months at best." Shadow-El asked slowly trying to gauge whether he'd upset the boy or not.

Shinji gazed down. The worn cross rested on his chest and despite its inanimate nature, it evoked powerful memories. It was a bittersweet thought that there was still a lingering scent coming from the cross after all this time, but it also felt like her death was even closer than it was.

"It wasn't her who said that. It was another person." Shinji said in avoidance of the question.

Fearful of causing the boy pain, Shadow-El remained quiet. He would've allow the question to go unanswered and not speak of it again for the remainder of the trip. He would, quite possibly, never have spoken of it again. However, the emotions stuck in the boy's mind, would not be contained and thoughts of the woman he once knew were brought to light.

"She was at times my guardian. At other times my leader. My sister. My mother. My...shield. And, if I had needed her to be, she would have been...my lover." Shinji spoke as if praising a goddess.

Shadow-El looked back at the boy with a slightly raised eyebrow. Shinji spotted this.

"She really would have." he said plainly and without a hint of a defensive tone.

The wolf nodded in acceptance of his claim. Seeing the opportunity to learn more, he pressed the issue.

"Was she really that wonderful?" he asked.

"She was extremely uncouth. She drank enough to kill a sailor, would eat nothing but snacks if I didn't cook, never cleaned, drove like a nut, and was a horrible flirt." Shinji said without a moments pause.

"...Oh." Said the wolf stunned.

Shinji said nothing for a while as he fiddled with the cross. After a minute of silence he went on.

"For the longest time, I couldn't understand her. Why was she like that? And why, whenever I got annoyed with her, didn't I leave?" he said.

Shadow-El waited before speaking.

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I was certain, that despite all the selfishness that she or anyone would point out about her...she still gave a damn about me, no matter how bad it got." he said.

There was a long silence. It seemed almost as if the wind and chirping insects halted their nightly rituals as a sign of respect. Even Shadow-El, who disliked any two legged being, closed his eyes to see if he could picture the woman that the boy described .

"What I wouldn't give to see her beautiful face and sweet smile again." he said and paused a moment before saying "Hell I'd give anything to see here passed out drunk lying on the kitchen table."

Shadow-El started bellowing in laughter at the remark. Shinji had been serious, but quickly realized the humor of what was said. He found himself unable to laugh because of his E.S., but he did manage to present a smile.

The smile fade quickly, however, as it had been done consciously and not as an involuntary response. He thought back to her antics and teasing. It annoyed him, but only at certain times. Most of the time they melded into the charm that was Misato Katsuragi.

"I miss her...I really do." he said as he shed a single tear that he would never feel.

The E.S. masked his sorrow and, whatever was happening to him in the shadows, numbed his face. The wolf however, would never forget what he saw on the boys face and how it echoed his own pain at his loss. The wolf laid its head down to rest and curled its body so his tail would cover the boy.

"I know you do. I know." were that last words spoken between the two before sleep closed their eyes.

===== Capital City, a few hours later =====

Motoko rubbed her eyes. She had tried to sleep and had been out maybe an hour or so, however, it hardly counted as rest. The chair at her desk was comfortable to sit in, but like most chairs, was not built for sleeping in. Full cyborgs need far less sleep than natural bodies, even still, the brain itself needed rest as well.

The Major got up from behind the desk as she saw no point in trying to sleep again. She was about to make her way out when her office door opened. Standing there was Mutio one of the few remaining doctors who had enough strength to continue working. Even though she had fallen ill, her aquilian body gave her some resistance.

"Damn-it! Don't spook me like that. You could have given me a...heart attack." Motoko's chastising tapered off as she looked the doctor over.

She looked tired, but for some reason, Kusanagi didn't think that the illness was the source of her wariness. Mutio could not bring her eyes to meet the other woman. In the aquilian's hand was an electronic note pad. Motoko now feared its contents.

"It...it happened..." the female doctor said as her voice wavered.

The Major snatched the pad out of the woman's hand and looked at it. She skipped over the name and the gender and looked right at the one piece of information she didn't want to read. Age:6. For several minutes, that small word and number were all she read on the note pad containing thousands of lines of data.

"She had a preexisting medical condition that~" Mutio's vain attempt at trying to ease the pain was brought to an abrupt end.

The note pad was flung against the wall at terrifying speed. The metal body survived the impact, but left a gouge in the wall. The plastic display screen was tough, but could not withstand the brute strength of an infuriated cyborg. It shattered and broke off.

Kusanagi turned away from both the destroyed pad and the doctor. Mutio on the other hand was on the verge of tears. Both from fear of the older woman's anger and the sorrow of the child's loss. Eventually, the two calmed down and remembered a task that had to be done.

"I have a doctor administering a special stimulant to the Queen. She should be up in an hour." Mutio said.

"The child's family?" The Major's query was understood.

"They were in the Palace hospital. When the Queen is ready, they'll be sent in." replied the doctor.

Motoko nodded and the two left the office going in different directions. Kusanagi wasn't sure where the doctor was headed, but it didn't matter. She had to see Eruru. The Queen had instructed her that should a young child die, that she was to be woken and have the family brought to her.

Motoko worried that the young woman was punishing herself for making a decision she made years ago. Becoming Queen. Before the revolt that ousted the Imperial forces began, the girl had feared the wrath of the Empire. Now it had undoubtedly claimed a young life.

However, there was little the Major could do. Obeying her orders, she made her way to the Queen's room as quickly as she could. She found Eruru awake and sitting up in the bed closest to the door. The far bed was hidden from view. The young princess was sleeping there and was hidden to keep her from being disturbed.

The Queen looked up. "Is the child's family on their way?" she said.

Motoko nodded. The young Queen looked away and stared at the wall. Her exhaustion was more obvious than ever. Her eyes were half closed and had dark shadows under them. But, Kusanagi was more concerned about her mental well being.

"You know, we could always call it off~" she began.

"No! I swore I would do this...Even though...I don't know what to say...or do...or if I'm really ready yet...What was I thinking? I can't comfort these people. They just lost a child and I'm partly to blame." the Queen began to berate herself in front of her friend.

"Easy now. You also made me promise to make you do this." Motoko began to set the young woman's focus.

Eruru nodded and calmed down some. The Major was about to say something when she tilted her head to one side as if listening to something. Her implanted communicator was relaying a message from someone. After a moment Motoko righted her head and looked Eruru in the eye.

"They're here. Are you prepared?" She asked.

The Queen straightened up, but still carried a weary look. However, there was nothing to be done about it and Motoko moved to the door. It slid open revealing a couple in they're thirties. They too looked weary, but they also appeared completely detached. Motoko watched as the young Queen readied herself for anything. Then watched as she opened her mouth.

"I~" The Queen began, but never got the chance to say another word.

The mother of the child ran up to the Queen and embraced her. She began to sob uncontrollably and put her face in the younger woman's shoulder. Eruru was stunned for a moment, but then put her arms around the other woman, in a comforting manner. The man turned to Motoko and looked as if he was about to speak, but just shook his head defeatedly.

What was he going to say? What was anyone to say? In truth; nothing. The words spoken in the city would only describe the hopelessness of the situation. The tactics and strategies were all used. The weapons were without power. Time was slowly running out. And the last hope of the people was far from sight.

===== Shadow wastelands =====

Shadow-El slowed from a run to a trot as he approached the tower. The sun was climbing towards noon as he reached the base of the steps. The wolf fought the urge to run up them and say 'Let's go!'. With the fifteenth colossus now dead, the end was in sight and there was a desire to finish.

However, Shadow-El recalled, when he was young, his father telling him that impatience, particularly at the end of a long task, was what usually lead to disaster. So the wolf slowed his pace to prevent making mistakes so close to the end. But as he neared the the top of the steps he saw something looming over the boy.

Shinji felt strange. It appeared like he was lying on the floor as he always was after being absorbed into the darkness, but it didn't feel like he was on rock or anything for that matter. The boy didn't feel numb either. He could see clearly though, and could make out the shape of the stone alter. What he saw next surprised him.

The person on the alter was getting up. The female figure slid off the stone structure and onto her feet. Her slender form approached the boy who was still on the ground. The woman's body was amazing. Her hour glass figure swayed gently as she came closer.

The only thing that disrupted her beautiful figure was the mask over her face. However, the young woman's hands moved up to her head and soon the mask was gone and unveiled the face behind it. It was Misato! The sweet smile that Shinji had come to know adorned her face as always and she looked at him with her usual kindness.

She knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his check. She brought her lips closer and closer to his. But just before they met, a blast of warm air struck the boy and the clear image of Misato was gone. A massive snout pushed on Shinji's stomach in an effort to wake him.

"Hey! You still with me?" Shadow-El worriedly asked.

"I'm fine." Shinji said flatly and confused.

Looking passed the gargantuan canine, Shinji laid eyes on the stone alter. There, the figure continued to rest. The boy got up and walked to the alter to look the figure over more closely. He wanted it to be her, but Shinji knew her figure. There were just too many differences. Shadow-El walked up behind the boy.

"It looked as though there were a group of people standing over you." He said with concern.

"hm." was all the boy responded with.

The wolf noticed that the boy was starring at the seed. Shadow-El knew Shinji was thinking something. He wasn't sure what, but he knew it caused him sorrow. The wolf walked up next to the boy and brushed his head against him. Shinji reached up and scratched the under side of the canine's neck.

"One more to go." Shadow-El said quietly.

Shinji just nodded and hopped on to his partner's back. It was mid day. Even though both knew time was of the essence, Shadow-El only walked at a steady pace and Shinji did not question him. The sun was warm, but the boy did not feel it. His skin was all a dark gray now, and it had lost most of it's sensitivity to heat.

He felt only cold now. Shinji felt little else. Even looking directly at the sun, he didn't even feel the hint of warmth. There was one other sensation he felt. A weight around his neck. Shinji took off the chain holding the cross and put it around the wolf's ear. It hung there almost like an ordainment.

Shadow-El, knowing the object's significance, payed it no mind. He instead continued to where the light from the sword had pointed as he had fifteen times before. The wolf, for the most part, wanted this to be over, but a part of him feared the end. He didn't know if his young companion, would be there or not.

Their course lead them to a small ravine that snaked through the mountain. A smell now filled the wolf's nose. It was a scent he'd detected the moment he had come to the wastelands and now he was approaching its source. The last colossus.

The ravine narrowed slightly, then ended at a stairway. Shadow-El felt the hairs on his back stand on end. Shinji was still oblivious to all sensations and did not notice the rise in tension as the wolf climbed the stairs. He would have remained clueless to the entire trip, except half way up the steps, a short but fierce quake struck.

Even the desensitized boy felt it and looked to his four legged partner to see if he was alright. Shadow-El looked back and nodded. The duo continued to climb and then halted at the top. There was a deep crevasse separating the two and the tower like cliff. The only connection was an old stone bridge. And it worried Shadow-El.

"You ok Shadow?" the boy asked.

"...Yeah, it's just...hang on tight is all." he replied.

Shadow-El then backed away from the stone bridge as far as the top of the stairs would allow. The wolf took a deep breath, then charged the bridge. In less then a second, the wolf was at full speed and nearly half way across the bridge. A few more seconds and they would be at the other side. But another quake changed the situation.

The bridge beneath them began to collapse. Whole blocks fell into the ravine. The entire structure was seconds from crumbling. Shadow-El felt gravity begin to conquer him and saw himself dip below the edge of the far cliff. So, with a powerful burst from his hind legs, he bucked the youth off his back.

Shinji felt himself fly through the air and land with a dull thud. The sting of the impact left him disoriented, but it wore off quickly enough. He looked around and saw that he was on a wide ledge that seemed to wrap around the massive pillar. What Shinji didn't see was Shadow-El. The boy scrambled to the edge and peered over. He saw large splashes in the river below, but no other movement afterward.

"SHADOW-EL!" He cried, but got no response.

"SHADOW!...SHADOW!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

All that replied was the echos of his own voice. Shinji tried to clasp Misato's cross, but realized he had left it with Shadow-El. For several seconds the boy stared at the river hoping that his friend would wash ashore. But there was nothing except for silence. The silence persisted until he heard a small click, that originated from Shinji's emotional suppressor.

The medication had run out. For a moment, the boy felt as though time had stopped. There was no sound, movement, smell or feeling that he could detect. Then suddenly, he felt something deep in his chest. It was different. It wasn't sorrow or confusion. Not pain or fear. Shinji had felt this feeling so few times, but he knew it well enough.

It was rage. For the second time in his life, everything that Shinji had gained had been ripped away from him. Now, all he could think to do was cause pain to whatever had hurt him. He hurried up the side of the pillar, scaling rocks, debris, strange moss, and running through tunnels. His anger grew with each inch up.

Finally, a stone column lead to the flat top of the gigantic pillar. It took him seconds to climb it. The boy felt as though he'd climbed into a rain storm. At the top, Shinji sighted the final beast. It stood as tall as Eva. Oddly, it had a skirt like tower structure up to its waist. Ominously, the storm apparently emanated from the colossus itself.

But, Shinji was now unable to think rationally. He drew his sword and charged. It was an almost fatal mistake. The beast lobbed a fireball that landed a few feet in front of him, knocking him back against a toppled column. He barely regained himself in time to dodge a second one aimed at him.

After the sobering shock, Shinji curbed his anger some and thought more rationally. There were several stone barriers that he could use to hide behind, but too few to get up to the beast. For several minutes, the boy ducked behind stone blocks, unable to advance. Even arrows,which would not inflict a deadly wound, weren't reaching it.

Then, he caught sight of a pit of sorts. Shinji made a break for it. He dove in as another fireball whizzed overhead. He found himself in a corridor. He moved forward cautiously. Outside, the beast and the storm raged. Shinji took a moment to wipe the water from his face and noticed blood. Fortunately, there wasn't much.

He weaved out and around the side of the mountainous pillar, thinking it might lead to a ledge close to the colossus, but the path quickly turned back in. He was now in a brick trench that dead ended. However, there were stone blocks that allowed him back onto the surface.

Another fireball came from the giant, but a stone barricade was between them. Shinji effortlessly ducked behind the stone wall. The boy took a moment to use his sword and find the symbol that the colossus's life depended on. The cloudy weather blocked out most light, but enough shone through.

Shinji was hardly surprised to see the beam point to the creature's head. He shook his head in slight frustration. However, as he did, he caught a glimpse of several stone barriers. They lead back towards the pillars edge, but closer to the colossus.

The boy reasoned that the colossus was unable to move, as it would have attacked by now. If he could get behind it, he might be in a far better position to strike at it. If the ledge lead even half way to the beast's rear flank, than attacking would be a snap.

After planing his movements toward the ledge, he made his move for the first barrier. But, Shinji had not taken into account the diminished distance between him and the colossus. A fireball landed murderously close to him, knocking the boy several feet back.

Shinji felt gravity pull him down, but when he expected to come in contact with the ground, he continued to plummet. He had had the misfortune to be knocked back into the trench he'd climbed out of. After a twelve foot fall, Shinji slammed into a stone floor, littered with loose rock.

He felt a bizarre type of pain from his right eye. Shinji instinctively brought his hand to his face and felt a strange texture. But when he took his hand away from his eye, Shinji couldn't see it at first. It wasn't until his hand reached a certain distance that he saw it covered in blood, however, it appeared as though his hand was farther to the right then it should have been.

After a second or two, Shinji figured that he was only looking at his hand with his left eye and tried to open his right one, but nothing happened. Then he came to the horrifying realization that his eye wasn't closed. It was gone.

Spotting a jagged, blood covered rock next to him, he managed to piece together what had happened. His mind began to shut down to protect him from the shock. The fact that he still didn't care about living or dying helped him get back up and start moving.

Despite the horrible appearance of the wound, the bleeding slowed. Shinji, with a bit more speed and caution, climbed out of the trench again and bolted from barrier to barrier. The colossus continued to hurl fireballs at him until he dropped down to a ledge at the end of the pillar.

Shinji took a moment to breath and wipe the right side of his face with his sleeve. The blood was sticky by this point, but it still covered his sleeve. However, there was little the boy could do and so, marched on. He soon found another stone pathway leading back into the pillar.

Following it, he reached a set of stairs leading up to a rather shocking surprise. When he reached the top of the steps, Shinji quickly realized that he was directly under the behemoth. For a moment, he worried the creature would crush him. But, a simple inspection put that concern to rest.

The feet of the beast were completely fused with the ground. It wasn't going anywhere. Shinji, not being one for strategy or able to think too well with his wound, began to climb part of the back section of the tower piece. The colossus almost seemed as if it had forgotten that he had been there and did not flail about.

The tower surrounding the colossus was a vertical maze. It took him several minutes of dropping, climbing, and circling just to make it to the monster's back. But once clear of the maze, it didn't take him long to find an open sore and a patch of black fur leading up to it.

Shinji worried that because the sore was in the small of the colossus's back, all he would accomplish by striking at it, was agitate the beast even further. However, the creature's fur did not go more than a few feet in any direction. So, Shinji unsheathed his sword and struck the sore.

Unfortunately, the colossus was more flexible than it appeared. It immediately reached around and a giant claw impaled Shinji's left leg. This time he felt the blow and cried out in pain. The boy did manage to stifle his screams of agony, as he had suffered worse under Ramiel's proton beam.

He managed to contort his body so that he grab the fur on the giant's wrist. This, however, had the devastating effect of causing more damage to his leg, mutilating it even further. Despite the pain, Shinji clung to the creature.

After smacking one of the fingers away with his sword, the colossus brought its arm back around. As they traveled, Shinji looked back at his left leg, and wished he hadn't. There was a great deal of blood and torn flesh. He wasn't sure, because he looked away the instant he saw it, but he thought he saw bone sticking out.

Shinji turned his focus away from the horrible, painful scene and focused on the colossus, which was now rotating it's hand to look at him. With the arm now wrist up, the boy got up on his remaining leg and hobbled toward the shoulder.

However, he found his way blocked by stone shoulder guards. Before he could find a way around it, the beast's other hand came at him. Shinji managed avoid being swatted off and grabbed the back of the other hand as it pulled away.

The colossus did not see this happen and continued to search at its left arm for the boy. Shinji was about to crawl to the shoulder, but discovered that it too had a guard that blocked his path. He now started feeling tired and he feared it wasn't from simple exhaustion.

Believing that he was now as close as he was going to get, Shinji knotted an arrow in his bow and aimed for the head. However, his lack of depth perception, balance and focus, threw his aim far off target. A sudden movement from the beast as he released the bow string, forced him to watch as his arrow went for the beast's left bicep.

Feeling the arrow's sting, the colossus moved the hand Shinji was on towards it. The boy, unprepared for the shift, tumbled and grabbed on where he could. Unfortunately, his left arm, wielding his bow, was caught in the creature's palm as it smashed up against the colossus's body. The wood bow splintered into his arm.

Shinji flashed back to his very first Angel battle. Only now, his arm was truly shattered. He didn't scream, but he nearly passed out from the pain. He grabbed the hair on the colossus's body and gripped tight as the hand pulled away.

He almost fell off due to the steep angle. With only two good limbs remaining, Shinji clawed up to the neck and took a breath. He managed to draw his sword and use his crushed arm to hook around it, holding it in place. Taking one final look up at the shaking head, Shinji began his final ascent.

At first, it appeared as though the colossus's head moved at a predictable pattern that he could use. But as soon as Shinji reached the crown of the beast, its thrashing became infinitely more violent. The boy was thrown forward and barely grabbed the stoney out cropping on its head.

Using his back and remaining leg, Shinji wedged himself in between two stones on either side of the beast's head. As the colossus threw its head forward, the boy looked to his right and saw the ground. Though the two sides of the beast were lined with tall stones, its front was an open fall.

The boy turned his focus to his sword, which had dug into his maimed armed, but was secure which was all he really needed. He grabbed the handle of the blade and raised it. The symbol began to glow right next to him, however, this colossus seemed aware of the impending strike.

It shook its head in a different manner then before and it nearly accomplished its goal. Shinji slipped slightly as the sword left him unbalanced. The violent shaking almost jolted the blade from his hand. The only thing that saved him was his ability to dig his fingers, while still holding the sword, into the colossus's fur.

But, this left him unable to move in any other way. With two other limbs out of commission, all the boy could do was hold tight. The ferocious head movements showed no sign of stopping or even slowing. Several minutes passed and Shinji felt his grip on the fur and consciousness waver.

Shinji pushed his head against the rock for added support. His loss of blood must have started to get to his brain because the images he was seeing were beginning to blur. He could feel his grip on the beast fading and the head shaking seemed to get worse.

Time was up. He couldn't get an angle on the symbol with the violent shaking going on and if shifted his weight even the slightest he would fall for sure, or be flung into the air. But then, Shinji had a spark of an idea. A plan that was truly insane and would have been tossed out by any other person, including his past self.

Still, time was up. It was time to finish this once and for all. Shinji waited till the colossus started making a left to right motion, rather than the up and down movements, to ensure he did fall through the gap. As the force of the colossus's head put more pressure on Shinji's back, the boy rolled on his side and bent his leg.

The loosening tension on his remaining leg gave him better mobility and allowed him to turn his body toward the symbol. Shinji then put the point of his sword into the colossus's head, but not to cause damage. It was instead intended to stabilize him. The colossus, however, felt this and again, became more ferocious.

It pitched its head down at an angle to the left. Shinji felt all his weight be thrown towards his feet. The force was so sudden, that his back came off the beast's head and left him standing on one edge of the crown with his good foot.

Then, the colossus threw it's head straight up. The force launched the unrestrained Shinji into the air. His body went up at least seventy fifteen feet, tumbling like a tossed doll. The beast's head peered upward, looking at the small body as it now began to fall back down. Satisfied it had lost its assailant, the creature righted its head.

But, this was what Shinji was planning on. As he fell, he righted his body and flipped the sword in his hand. The symbol was now stationary and despite the fact he was falling, Shinji found it easier to control his body during the plummet than on the thrashing colossus.

Shinji did his best to aim his sword and body at the symbol. All of his efforts were placed on accuracy. He would have just one shot and he figured that his momentum would be enough to cause fatal damage to the symbol. The passage of time was strange for him it was both fast and slow, but eventually the impact came.

His right side hit part of the rocky crown of the colossus's head knocking all of the air out of him and sending a powerful pain through his body. However, the sword landed nearly dead center of the symbol and all the way to the hilt.

The black oily blood erupted from the point of impact, forcing the sword out. As the blade left the wound, it shattered into five pieces, not counting the part still attached to the handle. The creature screamed then, the massive body of the colossus slumped, throwing the unsecured boy off.

Shinji rolled midair to look up at the sky. Time slowed again, but this time, he could do nothing. Although, he had no desire to try to fight gravity. He felt his part was over. Letting gravity do its job was easy for him, but the black tendrils would not leave him be. They struck him as always.

As the darkness entered his eyes, Shinji felt the pain of his wounds subside. This felt different. He had always felt his pain through the shadows. He began to realize that he wasn't being transported this time. This time, he was being absorbed. Because of Eva, Shinji knew what this was like, but now he had no strength.

He simply let the darkness take him.

===== Capital City =====

Motoko heard Aruru moan behind the curtain. The cyborg woman had been by her queen's side since the family had left and watched her descend back into the stupor brought on by the drugs and the illness. For the past half-hour she had been silent, but now her young sister stirred, gaining the older woman's attention.

Walking over to her bed, Kusanagi sat on the side of it and brushed strands of hair away from the girl's eyes. The sweat on the child's brow was heavy and all the woman could do was wipe it away. Cooling the girl's body could prove fatal, and so, she was kept warm. The uncomfortable heat had allowed her eyes to crack open slightly.

"...Shinji...Where...Maj...bring...broth..." The princess's thought was there, but could not be put into words.

"Your brother is busy at the moment, but he'll be done soon. I'll send him then." The lie in the Major's mouth felt disgusting.

She tried to tell herself that it was all for the best, but her best was sitting here waiting for the last two royals of the nation to die. She would have kept on hating her new lot in life, were she not interrupted by her communicator. Oboro's voice came through.

"Major. It appears that the Ko-Dan are changing their formation...It...They appear to be gearing up for an assault using urban based weaponry." he said.

"I'll be there." She replied flatly.

She got up and patted the girl's head as she left. Then turned to the Queen. Bending over she kissed the other woman's forehead. She left the room without a word after that. She strode down the corridor, not missing a beat in her step. If none were the wiser, it would seem like she faced this situation everyday.

'So...It's here...the lethal blow.' She thought, as she left the palace and went to the wall.

===== Elsewhere=====

"_WE HAVE SUCEEDED! WE ARE FREE! NO...NO I AM FREE!"_

At the tower, the last of the colossus statues collapsed and in the center of the floor a large black shadow appeared. Emerging from it was a black beast. Its shape and form resembled the slain colossi. Its head nearly touched the ceiling of the gigantic hall.

"_AH FREEDOM! NO DEATH GOD SHOULD BE IMPRISONED, LET ALONE SPILT UP."_

The beast thought back to when he had been incarcerated by another death god. Minions of Sephiroth had surprised him centuries ago and split him up using some strange magic. Who knew why the one winged death god had let him live, but he was now free and had new powers.

"_SUCH STRENGTH! HAD HE KNOWN WHAT HE COULD DO...BAH! THE FOOLISH CHILD IS GONE. WHAT 'COULD HAVE BEEN' MEANS NOTHING."_

Dormin, as he had been known as, moved over to the large entry way. He peered up into the fading light of the evening sky. He used his inhuman sense to locate the nearest threat. His power allowed him to scan powerful entities two star systems away, but nothing was there for him to even start to worry.

"_ARROGANT SILVER-HAIRED MORON! HE'S SO FAR AWAY IT'LL TAKE HIM DAYS BEFORE HE KNOWS I'M LOOSE. I'LL BURN THIS SICKLY LITTLE ROCK FOR THINKING IT CAN BE MY PRISON THEN I'LL TAKE 'SEPHYIE'S' LITTLE KINGDOM FOR MY OWN. AH! WHO SAYS REVENGE GAINS YOU NOTHING!"_

The black giant turned to walk away, however, as he turned he noticed the alter and its single occupant. His sense of smell told him that it was a tree seed, but one with an extraordinary ability. Healing. Such a power would be of immense use to anyone, even a death god. If Dormin had lips he would have smiled.

"_AND FATE HAS EVEN SEEN FIT TO GIVE ME A TREAT FOR MY PATIENCE AND I NEVER WASTE A GIFT."_

Dormin's original power enabled him to absorb the powers of another by pulling them into his shadowy mass. Once he took and ate the seed, he'd be powerful and nearly indestructible. The large dark hand of the beast moved to pick up the helpless seed, when a voice cried out.

"SHINJI!"

Looking over at the steps, Dormin saw Shadow-El standing there. The wolf was limping from a broken front leg and hobbling on the other three. He raised his head and Dormin caught sight of something clenched in its teeth. Misato's cross.

"NEVER FORGET!" Shadow-El screamed at the top of his lungs towards the shadowy mass in front of him.

Deep in the pitch black realm where nothing seemed to exist, images appeared before the boy's eye. Misato with her sly and sexy smile. Rei, with a smile that was simple and sweet. Asuka's of course was proud and triumphant, but sometimes he wondered if she was showing off to get his approval.

Then, the images turned dark. He saw armed men in black uniforms storm NERV HQ. The white mass produced Evas circle overhead. NERV uniformed Sireceiens were being mercilessly gunned down left and right... 'Sireceiens?'

While protecting him, Motoko took a bullet...'Motoko?' And bled to death. Aruru, with the Angel, Armisael, stuck in her Eva's body...'no wait...that was Rei, right?' Eruru tries to fend off the nine white Evas, but they rip apart her...'no. No! Asuka did that!'

It was seeing these confused images that Shinji realized that history was about to repeat itself. And in the darkness, somewhere, somehow, he found it. The last piece of strength and will the boy had left in him. It was the tiniest of the tiny, but it was just enough.

"_YOU IMPOTANT MUTT! I'LL CRUSH YOU HERE AND...AND I...OH...WHAT? I UGH!"_

A light burst from Dormin's body and landed on the ground in between him and the wolf. It took the form of Shinji.

"_WHAT! NO! THAT POWER! OURS...ER, MINE! NOT YOUR POWERS! IS MINE OR OURS...I, I...GIVE BACK!"_

Dormin began to lose shape. Without Shinji, he was unable to hold his fractured consciousness together. In panic and desperation, it lunged at the light covered boy. Shinji extended his hand and the black creature slammed into a wall of orange octagons.

An A.T. Field. Willed into existence by the meek youngster himself. Dormin staggered back as he began to break apart. He looked and readied another charge. Shinji closed his hand, but just before forming a fist, a blade appeared in his hand. It vaguely resembled the swords of the mass produced Eva's.

It was a large sword that glowed red. The back side of it formed a straight line down to the handle. The handle itself was just over a foot long, big enough to fit three hands on it. The actual blade curved out from the point, widening quickly, then easing off after a quarter of its length before bulging out again at the handle. Eight inches past the handle, the blade formed a narrow point when it met the swords back again.

Despite its size, it felt light in his hand. He positioned the sword between him and Dormin. The demonic monster lunged, but Shinji swung away at the beast's arm as it reached him. The sword passed through without resistance, causing the arm to split open then lose its form.

The giant bellowed in pain and frustration. Its flailing caused it to stumble in front of the boy. Not wasting the opportunity, he slashed at its head, then following through, he slashed the other way. After that he brought his arm up and struck downward.

Dormin was floored by the blows. His powerful, alien body meant it could survive such wounds, but his powers were slipping away fast. He tried to stand one last time, Shinji however, was not about to let him. He threw the sword like a spear and it took off like bullet fired from a gun.

It shot right through the demon's body and imbedded in the far wall. In a dull flash and a sound almost like change clinking in one's pocket, the sword vanished. Dormin's body crumpled to the ground, surprisingly, without a sound. A few seconds later, it's black mass dissolved into the floor and was gone.

Shadow-El's mouth was a agape. The scene played out quickly, but every detail had been clear and captured in the wolf's mind. The light surrounding Shinji began to fade and Shadow-El turned his attention to the boy. What he saw horrified him.

The light had obscured his vision of Shinji, but now that it was gone, the wolf could see that the poor boy's body was wrecked. An eye gone, an arm and leg were also destroyed, with bone protruding from them. But the worst was the right side of his chest. It had caved in.

Shinji was beginning to cough up blood as his body naturally gasped for air. The boy fell to his knees sitting on his good leg, his left sticking out at an odd angle. The sounds he made as he tried to breathe were terrible. One lung might still be working, but the other was, no doubt, completely crushed and perforated by the broken rib cage.

The wolf did not know if even 'modern' medicine could save him. A moot point as they were miles from even the basic or even crude medical care. This was the end. Shadow-El approached him and nuzzled him, whimpering as he tried to bring some kind of comfort to the boy's grizzly, inevitable death.

Oddly though, Shinji felt no pain. His body was going numb. Everything felt muted and calm. He could still see Shadow-El, but not hear his whimpers or feel the fur that brushed against his face. All Shinji could do was wait as his final seconds ticked down.

Shadow-El could see that Shinji's consciousness was fading. Remembering that he still had the boy's cross in his teeth, he held it up in front of Shinji's face. Seeing it gave him on last burst of strength. It was only enough to grasp it with his left hand, but that was all that was needed.

He twiddled the cross around in his fingers as it became harder and harder to breathe. Shinji was about to close his remaining eye, when he swore he could Shadow-El say something. Looking up, he saw the alter where the seed was. And it was sitting up.

The girl like figure slid off the stone structure onto her bare feet. Her hands reached up and doffed the unattractive wooden mask. The face behind it was that of a sweet caring young woman, not Misato's. This did not surprise Shinji, he knew it wouldn't be her. And, even though it wasn't Misato, he still felt relief.

He thought to himself, 'So I'm going to die on a victory am I? I suppose that figures. Still, this is for the best.'

As he contemplated his final act in life, the seed walked to him. Her body seemed to glow with a pure white aura that got brighter as she got closer. Shinji's vision became tunneled and soon all he could see was her face, which inched closer to his his every labored breath he took.

'This ending isn't that bad. I managed to save a world and now I can rest. Plus, the last thing I see is a beautiful image. Yeah...it's not so bad.' he thought as he closed his left eye.

As he did, he saw the seed tilt her head and pucker her lips slightly as she brought her face to the boy's. As he let his eye shut and darkness take over, he felt lips on his. Strange, as his body was all numb. Then, he tasted mint in his mouth and a cool icy sensation travel down his throat.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his right eye socket. Then, a pounding pain in his chest. Shinji broke away from the seed's kiss as he felt pain in both his arm and leg. He cried out for a second, then breathed in. The moment he did, the pain vanished.

Shinji started breathing heavily as his mind raced about trying to make sense of the shock. After a moment, however, he focused on something else. Breathing. He was breathing. He checking his right side he found his rib cage whole again. Also surprisingly was the fact that he had checked with his right hand.

As he looked down to check what he felt was real he closed his left eye and tried opening his right. Sure enough, his view was in perfect working order as was his hand. Shinji stood up slowly. His left leg was stiff, but moved normally when commanded to do so.

The seed stood there looking at him as if waiting top see if he approved of her work. Shinji nodded to her indicating he was fine. She smiled joyfully and walked toward Shadow-El. As she treated the wolf's wounded paw, the boy looked around. The rubble on the ground gave no indication that Dormin would be returning.

He was about to turn back to the other Sirece natives, when he spotted glints of light on the ground. At first Shinji wasn't sure what they were, but quick inspection revealed their identity. The shards of the once mighty blade. Shinji gathered all the pieces of the blade together and slid them into the scabbard to carry them back.

After he was finished, he returned to Shadow-El's side. The wolf was bouncing up and down on his freshly healed foot. The seed, pleased that her work had been accomplished, walked back towards the alter she had been resting on.

"Well, I'm convinced. It's a healing _'something'_." Shinji said.

"You doubted it?" The wolf said, not really fully believing it himself.

Shinji shrugged, not sure how to reply. Shinji then began to wipe away the blood and sweat off his face. As he did he brushed his E.S. Incredibly, the dots were all full. Shinji looked up amazed at the seed that now stood facing them, right in front of the alter. The thought of his medication reminded him that others were sick as well.

"I suppose we should see if she'll come with us back to the capital." he said.

Shadow-El nodded. Shinji stood before the seed. Her arms were slightly out to her side and her head was hanging low causing her hair to fall in front, obscuring her face. Shinji wasn't sure how to speak to a tree seed so he managed his best most formal voice.

"Seed of the Great Healing Tree, the people of this world are sick with a terrible illness. Will you please come with me to~" Shinji's plea was cut dramatically short.

From one of her wrists, a long green vine shot out and in to the floor, cracking the rock below. Her hair started growing towards the ground, also turning the same shade of greed as a newly sprouted plant. More and more vine came out from her as her body disappeared in the mass.

Suddenly, a large vine zipped passed Shinji and smashed a wall off to his side. Looking back, shocked, he could see other such vines forming. He then realized, they weren't vines, they were roots. A second wall shattering root gave Shinji a sinking feeling that it was time to leave.

"RUN!" he yelled to Shadow-El.

The wolf spun around in an instant, waiting only long enough for Shinji to climb on before taking off for the spiral ramp they'd entered the wastelands from. The boy held on for dear life as the wolf ran harder than ever before up the ramp. Half way up, a root blew through a wall behind them.

Shadow-El never lost speed even as he had to jump over a root that came out in front of them. His speed even seemed to get quicker as they came back into light on the bridge out to the cliffs. Shinji looked back in time to see the whole tower explode into a mass of vine and root, that took part of the bridge with it.

The expanding living mass seemed to chase them down the bridge, destroying it as it went. Shinji looked ahead again to see the entryway coming closer. At the last few feet, Shinji felt a force throw the wolf's, him still clinging on, through the entryway.

Shadow-El skidded to a halt before hitting a rocky wall. Both wanderers looked back at the, now collapsed, entryway. It was now blocked by a large stone that resembled the bark of a tree. Over head, the sun seemed to fade. The duo turned their gaze skyward as a giant tree limb grew out over them.

From the limb, smaller branches formed, and from them even smaller ones. A crashing sound from out in the ravine dropped the gaze. An enormous root arched up from the ground, then back down into it again. It came up and down twice more in the distance before stopping. Then silence.

The pair looked around as the scene began to settle. At first everything seemed to be still, but then, the branches looked as if parts of them were expanding and changing colors. Dark green objects formed and they soon realized that leaves were forming.

The leaves reminded Shinji of gingko leaves with their fan like shape. After they finally took shape, the wind and air around them seemed to change. It felt like a strange moisture filled the air and it felt clean. Shadow-El took a deep breath of the air through his nose.

"Ah! Yes! This air! It's pure. It smells like it's eroding the stench of death. This was what we came for!" he said before howling into the air.

"Can you taste it Shinji? This life! It's incredible!" Shadow-El shouted jubilantly.

"Yeah, but what about the rest of the world?" he asked worried he had still failed.

Unbeknown to Shinji, the new Healing Tree's roots had touched the roots of other Sireceien trees, linking it in to an unseen network below the surface of the planet. A network of roots so extensive that even the Capital tree was touched.

===== Capital City west wall, 20 minutes later =====

Motoko watched through a scope as the Ko-Dan lieutenant barked orders and marched his troops back and forth. She handed the scope back to Oboro as she relaxed a little. It wasn't the final push, but it was the final sign before it came. She had time to make preparations. But for what and how, she didn't know.

"He's trying to freak us out. Get us to do something desperate, leave the city walls, break our defenses anything to make the invasion go quicker. Just stay where you are. When it comes, it comes. This is as good a spot to die as you can get." She said flatly.

Oboro nodded as he looked back out over the Ko-Dan line. Above and around them the hyper-field flicked and buzzed. It was on it's last leg. One more failure and it would be gone. People barricaded their houses, but without the field, it provided only a few more seconds, if that, of protection.

The last real line of defense was hardly a line at all. A few remaining fighters scarcely populated the wall. Motoko wasn't even sure she had a hundred people left. Looking out the next nearest person was at least two hundred yards away. The gaps in the defenses were beyond obvious. The Ko-Dan could practically walk through this merger last line.

"Oboro. I want you to go to the emergency radio and put out a call for anyone, sick or otherwise, who thinks they can hold a weapon even for just a few minutes. Don't sugar coat it. Let them know this is probably a suicide~" A loud creaking noise interrupted her.

The creaking sounded like a painful moan and it emanated from the tree and her roots. All activity throughout the city halted. All eyes fell upon the tree. Inside, the noise was everywhere. People held hands and hugged those who were frozen with fright.

It lasted for several seconds. No one screamed, no one moved, not a single sound was made save for the noise. Then as quickly as it began, it ended, and all waited. Waited for the field to die. Waited for the tree to topple. Waited for the face of doom to make itself known.

Nothing. The Major like all other watched the tree expecting something, but it remained as it was. The silence was broken by a coughing sound behind her. The coughing sound came again and seemed to be getting worse. The Major was tired of hearing it.

"Go to the med center if...?" She turned, but no one was there.

The section of the wall was empty except for a small mid-range plasma mortar. The Major looked around confused and was about to ask Oboro if she was hearing things when the coughing sound started again. It was the mortar. It was chocking and buffing, and it's lights started to flicker.

It had been left on when its operator fell ill. No one had noticed since no power had been flowing to it, but as the Major came closer, the indicators all lit up and stayed on. She watched as the indicators rose as it charged. Then, the root it was connected to changed colors from the dull gray back towards a natural brown. The Major dared to hope for a second.

On her communicator she called out "This is Kusanagi on the west wall. Is there anyone on the east wall?"

After a moment "Yeah." came a voice.

"Switch on one of the turrets you guys have out there." She order.

"But they don't work." The voice complained.

"Just do it!" She barked.

"Okay...What do you want? I have a projectile howitzer, a laser-gun turret, a~" His listing was stopped.

"I don't care! Anything!" She nearly screamed.

The voice sighed. Motoko heard the sound of a switch being thrown, and she waited. Then the voice returned.

"Nothing."

For a second the Major kicked herself for jumping on a fluke as hope, when suddenly;

"Wait...Yeah...Yeah! It's coming on! Hey! HEY! Otoru! Check that laser-gun turret! See if it comes on!...GREAT! Man it! Hey Kusa~" The voice was cut off as the Major switched to the command center.

"Command center this is Major Kusanagi. What's the hyper-field status...Command center!" The woman was anxious for a reply.

"Huh?" came the voice of a young female operator. It had taken her a minute to shake off the fright of the noise from earlier.

"What's the hyper-field status?" repeated Motoko.

"It's been down to 5% since...er...7% I thought it was...11%...16%...It just shot up to 39%!" She yelled to all in the room.

The Major switched to a frequency for all to hear.

"Everyone still manning a post! Check power stations, facilities, anything, everything!" She ordered.

"This is ventilation. We're starting to move air normally again."

"Water treatment center here. The purifiers are starting to read less contaminants."

"Major. This is the acting Chief at the main power facility. Main power is reading nominal, out running lines are multiplying."

"Okay. One more thing to check." The Major said before switching to the Palace medical center.

"Mutio? It's me! Tell me we got something!" She asked the Aquilian.

Mutio was already a step ahead of her. With help from an assistant, she extracted some of the tree's sap. Then injected a sample of litpution-fluona and watched the reaction under the microscope. She centered on the floating flower like bacteria. At first nothing happened.

Then, bubble like cells with nearly invisible nuclei approached the sample. The flower just sat there, but a second later the strange cell turned red, like a blood cell. The litpution-fluona attacked it and was absorbed into it, where Mutio observed it being dissolved.

"WE GOT IT!" She exclaimed.

"Great doc. Now I know you want to heal everybody based on how sick they are, but I need you to get the soldiers first. And the Queen right after, I need her to give me an order 289." Said the Major.

"Oh..Okay...What's order~" Mutio's question would go unanswered.

"Command center." Motoko called out.

"Yes ma'am." Came the young woman's voice.

"I need you to keep the hyper-field looking like it's about to collapse. I've got something for those Ko-Dan bastards that'll keep them off our planet but good!"

===== Black Mountains, an hour later =====

Shadow-El and Shinji used the new roots as a path since they cut through most of their route. Shinji still wasn't sure if Shadow-El was right about the roots connecting, but he had done what he had come to do, so there was only the trip back left for him.

"So what's next for you Shadow? Where will you go?" The boy asked.

"Anywhere. Not all wolves live in packs." The wolf replied.

"Isn't that lonely?" Shinji wondered.

"A little. But, I'm sure I'll find a pack that would be kind...enough to..." Shadow-El trailed off as he sniffed the air.

The hair stood on the back of his neck and a low growl began to form in his throat. Soon, his teeth were bared, giving him the most ferocious look Shinji had yet seen from the wolf. Before the boy could quire as to the nature of his friend's actions, a figure loomed out from behind the craggy rocks.

Shinji was stunned as saw the hulking, brooding, ash skinned man approach. His blood red tattoos seemed to almost glow like a raging fire. The chain tethered swords in his hands made unnerving clanking noises as he walked. The Spartan stop less than ten yards away from the pair.

"Kratos!" Shinji breathed, shocked to see the previously dead man up and about.

"I do not care whether this mud ball burns in seconds or takes eons to rot away. This worthless no nothing rock can die how ever it wants. But, I hate being beaten! I should be commanding an army of hundreds of thousands, but no! I am hear being humiliated by an infant and his mutt! FUCK THE PLAGUE, THE KO-DAN, AND DORN KIRK! I'll take apart this planet with my own bare hands, after I'm done shredding you!" Said the enraged warrior.

Shinji dismounted the wolf and walked out in front of him slightly. He gripped the handle of his sword and began to draw it. However, he quickly recalled the the sword was broken and would likely not aid him against the Spartan's ranged swords. Trying to come up his a plan, Shinji looked to Shadow-El with confusion.

"How the hell is he here? I saw that huge spider stab him! It wrapped him up in webbing for God sake!" He said.

"Stabbed him with a stinger?" Asked Shadow-El through his growls.

"Yeah." He answered.

"Most giant spiders have stingers that paralyze, not kill." The wolf explained.

The boy rolled his eyes and wish that, for once, he would be the one who knew all the details. His feelings of agitation were soon over-shadowed by the need for self preservation as a chain attached sword came between the duo, forcing them to split up.

Shadow-El tried to lunge at the beastly man, but the powerful Spartan slammed his shoulder into the wolf's side, knocking him down a steep embankment. Ignoring the canine, Kratos refocused on Shinji, who had stumbled to the side near a cliff face.

The Spartan swung his blades wildly. Shinji barely avoided losing his head with each swing, as he tried to get away from the cliff face and give himself some room to move. Shadow-El on the other hand was struggling to get back up the embankment. Its steep angel and loose dirt made for slow going.

Kratos kept the boy on the move the child circled around him. He wanted both him and the animal lined up to take them both down with a single blow. Shadow-El finally managed to get up to where his head was above the crest of the hill. Right where the Ghost of Sparta wanted it.

With a well placed blade swing, Shinji was tripped up, landing in Shadow-El's path, halting him for a split second; a split second that Kratos could use with lethal efficiency. As soon as he recovered his two swords, he hurled them at the pair. Both Shinji and Shadow-El looked up just in time to see them coming, but not to move.

Seeing the deadly flying metal come at them caused a sensation to stir in the youth. He desired to stop what he was seeing, to reject it, to deny it. Raising his hand, Shinji concentrated that feeling outward and just before the swords struck them, they collided with a wall of orange octagons.

For a moment, Kratos, for the first time in his life, was stunned. The boy had escaped him three times by shear luck and aid of others. Now, with nothing but a lone wolf to save him, he had simply stopped his strike. The fury and rage the Spartan felt was unlike any had ever known.

As soon as he reclaimed his blades, he charged wildly at the boy. Shinji, now with next to no effort, placed the A.T. Field between him and the raging Spartan. For several seconds, Kratos pounded on the bizarre wall, with what seemed like no effort.

Unfortunately, for Shinji, the weapons Kratos wielded were no ordinary swords. The Blades of Chaos were deadly swords with powers granted by the death gods. However, they were very limited. The blades were beginning to ware on Shinji's A.T. Field, but too slowly to prevent him from acting.

Feeling a strain on his new power, Shinji thought of a way to strike back. Recalling the blade from earlier, he thought back and remembered how he felt when he brought it into existence. A deep ferocity, a need to lash out, a desire to use the power he knew he had. It felt like when he piloted Eva.

With this sensation in mind, Shinji began closing his hand into a fist. Instantly, the sword appeared again in his hand. Kratos, who had been swinging furiously at the barrier, nearly fell on his face when it vanished. Before he could collect himself to attack, he crossed his blades in front of him to halt a flash of red from hitting him.

The two fighters were now locked, blade pushing against blades. Kratos tried to shove the boy back, but his strength, which he had used to overpower warriors and beasts twice his size before, did little more than slide Shinji's sword to one side.

Though it broke the stalemate, it didn't give Kratos the advantage he wanted. Instead, it allowed Shinji to take another swing at the Spartan. This time, the hit caused Kratos to take a step back. Now, with more room to fight, Shinji began wielding the sword the way he'd been taught.

It was a simple pattern, one Kratos would normally defeat easily. However, no matter how hard he tried to deflect the blade to put the boy off balance , the sword refused to go in the predicted manner. Every time Kratos saw what he thought was an opening, led to nothing or him being pushed back.

The weapon was defying the laws of known physics. It was clearly light enough for Shinji to wield it quickly and effectively, but heavy enough that each blow made Kratos feel like he was deflecting a battering ram. Feeling the power behind his weapon, Shinji raised the sword above his head.

Kratos was more than quick enough to block the ferocious attack, but to his shock, the blow took out a chunk out of his right sword and left cracks through the remainder of it. With his weapons failing the Spartan jumped back several feet. He knew he still had the body in a ranged fight.

Not as fast or as aggressive as Kratos; Shinji allowed him the greater distance, hoping he'd turn and run. But, the Spartan's anger was too great. He lobbed both swords at Shinji. The boy had just enough time to put his sword in between himself and the deadly projectiles.

This defensive stance usually gave Kratos plenty of time to recover his blades, close distance and finish off his target. But once again, Shinji's weapon produced a unique ability. Upon impact, the swords, instead of bouncing off normally, had all the energy of their momentum drained.

They fell to the ground as if they had been simply dropped. Kratos, who had started to charge, expecting to have his weapons bound back into his hands, came to a halt. Even the chains that bound them were made lifeless. The Ghost of Sparta began reeling them in, but the lull in action was a terrible mistake.

Shinji, seeing the opening and knowing Kratos would never stop, attacked. It was a simple charge, but one Kratos wasn't ready for. In his confusion, the Spartan scrambled to recollect his two swords, rather than dodging the on coming attack. He quickly grabbed the handles and raised the swords to strike.

Then he just stopped to look at the boy. Their faces were only inches apart. Shinji's face was as unnaturally stoic as always, but his eyes carried an emotion Kratos didn't understand. Then he looked down to his torso. Shinji's sword had impaled him to the handle.

Even though the blade had a red glow to it, his blood was obvious. The Spartan tried to move, but it caused his legs to weaken. Sensing the change in balance, Shinji, using his shoulder for leverage, began shoving Kratos back to the ledge.

Kratos tried to fight it, however the wound was too severe and he staggered back, then they reached the ledge. Again, using his shoulder for leverage, Shinji gave one final shove while pulling out his sword. The vile Spartan tumbled over the cliff edge into a shadowy crevasse. The boy watched as Kratos disappeared from sight.

Shadow-El, who had watched, stunned as the events unfolded, came up next to Shinji.

"What...what was all of that?" He asked.

"A power. A power I both fear and hate. But...at least...I think, I hope, it's my power now." Shinji said.

The boy wasn't sure if he wanted an A.T. Field, or if he could get rid of it if he didn't, but for now he tolerated it as he got back on his wolf companion. The weapon of his former enemy was his now, who knew if it could be used for good.

=====Capitol City=====

The Hyper-field flickered violently and the top of it began to dissolve away. Outside the Ko-dan lieutenant made the final preparations to destroy the city. Chiril positioned himself so he could see the attack on the city from a hatch on top of one of the A.P.C.s, he was done waiting for Kratos to return.

"All ground troops to the front of the armors. As soon as the shield goes, charge up and climb the walls. Don't give them time to flee." He said coldly.

As he spoke the Hyper-field disintegration sped up and was soon gone. Without any other orders from their lieutenant, the Ko-Dan army began marching towards the city walls. However, the top of the wall, the Ko-Dan were marching to, was crowded with armed Sireceiens, crouched down to avoid being seen.

The wall was a mix of soldiers and, thanks to order 289, temporally drafted civilians. On the ground behind the wall were mortar emplacements and make shift canons, all ready to lob all sorts of artillery over the wall. At a mid-ranged laser canon sat the Major. She was personally targeting the Ko-Dan lieutenant.

She could hear the people to the left and right of her planning out their shots to get the most damage done. Occasionally she would hear a person cough and some still looked pale, but the adrenaline gave them more than enough strength for a battle. A moment later her inter-comm crackled.

"Aeon 1 to Aeon squadron: the freighter that dropped of the enemy is parked five miles North-west. It's engines are cold so if we crank full throttle as soon as we leave the dock we should get to them before they even have time to start hovering." Came a mech pilot's voice.

"Aeon 1 this is Aeon 3: Can we do this in one pass?" Said on of the wing-men.

"Why?" The leader asked.

"Because if it takes two or more runs, Major _Ground-pounder_ will have killed off the whole bad guy army, and I want a shot at those guys too!" He replied.

Kusanagi smiled. She knew it was going to take a bit more time than the few minutes it would take to destroy the freighter, than it would the army, but that wouldn't stop her from trying. Her cross-hairs centered on the lieutenant's head as his armor inched closer and closer. No swerving and barely any speed.

"That's right. Come to mommy." She said.

The whole Sireceien army waited with breath held for the Major's first shot; the cue open fire. A small light in the viewfinder of the canon the Major armed, changed from red to green, telling her the target was in range. A heartbeat later, she squeezed the trigger.

Chiril never realized he and his men had a problem.

=====Outside the Black mountains=====

Shinji and Shadow-El followed along the newly formed river that had been created by the destruction of the dam the Orcs had made. Shinji was not riding his wolf friend. Instead he walked along side. He wondered when they would split up, but since he was forced to take a new route home, he stayed with his animal guide.

"Think the water did a lot of damage?" The boy asked.

"Only to the unnatural." The wolf quipped.

The pair had been walking for only a short distance, when a red form could be seen in the distance running toward them. It was Red XIII. Shinji was glad (as glad as one could get with an E.S.) to see that his other canine friend hadn't died of his wounds.

"Well! Look at the two of you!" The red wolf said as he came close.

"Oh come on, all we did was destroy a legion of Orcs, kill sixteen giants, slay a death god and beat the Ghost of Sparta. It was boring really." Shadow-El said with great amusement in his voice.

The two wolves turned to Shinji, both sporting toothy grins. It was obvious to anyone that the boy was unable to feel the same humor as the wolves, but that didn't stop them from having fun. Shinji raised an eyebrow at their joking, which caused them to laugh. Shinji simply shook his head before turning to Red XII.

"So what brings you out to this part of the world?" He asked.

"Gandalf and Moro. They are waiting near the coast. They want to see you before you go." The red wolf replied.

With that, Red XIII turned around and began trotting away. Shadow-El sat down and started scratching behind his ear with his hind paw. He was clearly in no rush. However, Shinji felt the need to finish his journey. Disturbing the wolf would be a bad idea, but the boy had a few tricks.

Reaching out his hand, he began taking over the scratching for his companion. The foot that had been at the task left the ear, but kept making the motion. The distraction allowed Shinji on the wolf's back without trouble. After another few seconds of scratching, the boy relaxed his fingers.

Shadow-El stretched out, then righted himself. He quickly caught up his the other wolf, who wasn't going very fast to begin with. As soon as the dark hair wolf had done this though, Red XIII took off like a shot. Shadow-El knew he was in for an impromptu race.

He managed to keep up the the red haired canine, but since the other wolf was the only one who knew the way, he was forced to stay a few steps behind. Shinji, who was smart enough to hold on tight, just watched the scenery go by as they made their way to their rendezvous.

===== East coast, several hours later =====

Though Moro was lying down, her head was perked up and surveying the surrounding area. Gandalf stood next to her. Unlike his wolf companion, he faced a single direction. For an hour he had stood there and Moro wonder why, but soon it became clear.

Over a hill on the horizon, two canine forms came into view. Only after a few short minutes they arrived where the duo were standing, and one of them bore a rider. Before long the trio stood in front of Gandalf and Moro. Shinji hopped off his companion's back and kept his eyes cast down.

Moro walked over to the dark haired wolf.

"What is your name, my kinsmen?" She asked with great authority.

"I am...Shadow-El." He said.

Moro was surprised that he had used his common tongue name rather than speak in wolf. She could only assume it was for the child's benefit. Normally she'd scoff at such a gesture, but after all he had done, perhaps he had merited such a concession.

"Very well Shadow-El, your actions have done a great service to all. As an honor, I permit you to join my pack." She said, nodding to the tree line in the distance.

For a moment the young wolf was stunned, but quickly reclaimed his composure.

"Thank you Great Goddess Okami." He bowed his head steeply, then faced Shinji. "This is where I say my goodbye to you my...colleague." Shadow-El halted himself from saying a word with a more personal tone.

All Shinji did was nod. With that, the dark haired wolf ran to the forest. The boy kept his eyes on the canine until he disappeared into the trees.

"Goodbye friend." Shinji whispered.

The boy could not feel sadness, but knew he would as he wondered if he had seen his new companion for the last time. He suddenly felt the breath of a large creature behind him and foot falls that caused the ground to tremble a little as they got closer. The boy did not look behind him.

"I may bite your arm off if you enter my woods again, but I promise not to kill you." Said the towering white wolf.

"Thanks" 'I think'. The boy thought.

With her _political_ duties done, Moro followed after Shadow-El, to the woods. Shinji permitted himself to look up enough to see the white that was the Wolf Goddess Okami, then lowered it again in case someone would notice. Soon more footsteps could be heard behind him.

"Well boy, looks like she likes you." Red XIII said smiling.

"I think she tolerates me." He replied.

"That's about as good as it gets for anyone, hue or wolf." he said.

"Right...What about you?" Shinji asked curious about his new comrades.

"Me? I'm only an honorary pack member. I can stop by with no issue, but I should never over stay my welcome. I guess I'm still hanging out at Gandalf's. Speaking of whom..." Red XIII turned to face the old man as he approached.

"A great many people owe you a great many thanks. You wielded the sword well." Said Gandalf.

"About the sword...I'm sorry Gandalf...the sword, when I pulled it out of~" Gandalf cut the boy off.

"I am sorry, I had not the time to tell you that I expected the blade to break. It was the nature of the circumstances. Fear not, it has been broken before and reforged each time. I assure you, the next time it is need to defy evil, it will be ready." Gandalf said reassuringly.

Shinji handed the scabbard, with the sword inside, over to the gray dressed man. Then Red XIII came back into his view. He looked at Gandalf as if expecting him to say more, but the bearded man remained silent. The red wolf walked to Shinji and knelt down.

"I can take you as far as the edge of the port town. You'll be able to get home from there." Said the wolf.

"...home..." The boy repeated.

"Yes Shinji. Believe it or not, you do have one." Said Gandalf.

The boy nodded and then got on Red XIII's back. He looked around the fields and forests of the silent continent one last time, then he and the red wolf made for the port city. Gandalf watched the pair until they were out of sight.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to follow the other wolves. He reached the edge of the forest, but before he could go any farther he was confronted by Shadow-El.

"She wants a word with you." He said sternly and almost with a hint of anger.

Again, Gandalf sighed, this time in a sense of defeat. He'd hoped to avoid this conversation. It was always hard to get people to understand. The wizard headed in the direction of the coast along the forest line. It took him an hour to reach the cliff shores where Moro rested.

The white wolf gazed out at a ship that specialized in carrying people to and from the continent in a hurry. It used sail and animal driven paddle wheels at first, then and power generator would take over to speed it's occupants to the other side.

Shinji was no doubt on that ship and would back at the Capitol in a day. The wolf goddess still did not like the hues, but she could have respect for one. Keeping secrets was fine provided that the person who didn't know the secret had no need or right to know, but if they did, keeping a secret was almost a crime.

"He has a strength of some kind in him. Something even I'm not familiar with." Came Gandalf's voice from behind her.

Moro did not reply. She continued watching the ship until it was gone and continued watching the horizon sometime after. Gandalf simply waited for her to start into him. Gandalf wasn't a hue, but that didn't mean that the wolves would instantly respect him, despite what he really was. Finally she spoke.

"I consider that sword a curse." She said.

"It is one of the few things that evil naturally fears, so, naturally, they hate its wielder." He replied.

"That would be alright, if the sword could be easily passed form one to another, but it won't be passed. The sword chose its new master and the sword is now his for life." She grumbled.

"I know. But I cannot influence the sword. All I can do is maintain it." He said.

"YOU COULD HAVE TOLD HIM! He should know that his life is going to be cut short at the hands of some evil force!" She yelled.

"Not all the wielders of the blade met with tragic ends." He said.

"Most do." She said flatly.

"I know...but he needs peace now. Besides, I don't think he cares about his life right now. Knowing the facts about the sword would only trouble him needlessly. He has earned his rest." Gandalf finished.

Moro said no more. She reminded herself that she didn't like hues. If one died in a battle, even if that battle was for forces of good against the most heinous evil, she didn't care. Still, she found herself looking out at the horizon.

'That boy has a hard road ahead.' She thought as the horizon grew dark in the east.

===== Capitol City, a few days later=====

The black sky in the east was beginning to turn a dark blue as dawn slowly crept closer. Inside the Palace, the Queen had woken early to oversee the start of the city's repair. The funerals had been done the day before. There had been so many. The young girl's had been the longest.

Eruru signed a few documents and passed them to the waiting attendant. The poor man, who was acting as little more than a courier, yawned. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt an icy cold object on the back of his neck. The beverage, after it left the man's neck, was placed before the Queen.

"Thank you Motoko." She said with out looking up.

The Queen signed the last paper and handed it to the man. The attendant took off like a shot. He had heard of the scary major and feared the repercussions of having yawned in the Queen's presents. As soon as he had gone Kusanagi turned to face her Queen.

"You shouldn't scare them. I'm the one getting up at an ungodly hour." Eruru said.

"Not really an excuse. If you can be up this early so can anyone." The older woman replied.

"That could be considered insulting, you know." She said.

Both giggled. Then the Queen coughed. Motoko jumped ever so slightly. No one would have noticed it except for the Queen and she was catching her breath. She waved off the Major who was now by her side. Motoko rubbed her shoulder with one hand causing the young woman to relax, nearly into sleep. At the last moment, however, she perked up.

"Oh, Major. Could you bring Aruru to me when she wakes? I need her to make an appearance at a school. She said she wanted to help with the political side of~" The Queen was halted in her request.

"She woke up and left the Palace an hour ago. She didn't say where she was going, but I have a good idea where she went." She said with a smile.

===== Western wall, half hour later =====

Eruru climbed the steps to the top of the wall. She nearly had to stop and catch her breath, due to the height. Even at the top of the steps, she could not see out over the edge of the wall. Still, the cold predawn air struck her face and blew her hair back. The few men that remained on the wall garnished smiles at the sight of their lovely queen.

It didn't take long to get one of them to locate her young sister. The girl was resting the top part of her body on the wall's parapet and letting her feet dangle half way down. She was staring, almost without blinking, at the forest tree line to the west. Her ears were perked up ready to detect the slightest sound. Eruru sighed at the sight of her sister.

"Aruru, you should come in side and eat breakfast." She said.

"Brother will be home soon." The girl spoke with out turning to her older sister.

Shinji should have been back a day or two ago. Eruru gave not even the smallest indication of her fear. The fear that the boy would not be coming back. Any number of things could have happened to the child. He could have succeeded in finding Gandalf and, in the process of aiding him, been killed. He could have died fighting Orcs on his way home. Or he simply could have disappeared, no longer wanting to be seen and know to the universe.

Some might wonder why he even bothered saving the Sireceiens. He could have run away and no one would have been the wiser. It was also possible that the poor young man had finally ended his sad tragic life. Aruru could wait at the forever, which was not a fate the young queen would permit her sister to suffer.

"It's still early. He may still be sleeping where camped last night." She spoke rationally.

But, Aruru did not move. Eruru stepped closer and put her hand on the child's shoulder. She spoke again using a more suggestive tone to indicate the hard and painful possibility the girl might have to soon accept.

"Shinji will get here when his time to arrive comes. Your being here will not change that." Said the queen.

Aruru looked up at her to say something, but went quite when she saw her sister's soft, but serious face. Without another word the small girl slid off the parapet and came up to her sister's side. As the two walked back to the steps, Aruru finally spoke up.

"No one's saying what a good job Shinji did. Why? Didn't he save everyone?" She asked.

"The people are just tired. When all the stress has passed we will celebrate his deeds." The queen replied.

"When will that be?" Aruru asked rhetorically.

The two young women began to make their slow decent down the stairs, but just as they reached the third step, Aruru stopped suddenly. Her ears perked up and she looked over her shoulder. Before her sister could say a word, the girl ran back up the steps and nearly propelled herself over the parapet.

Eruru quickly joined her. The older sister watched her sibling as the young girl peered out into the darkened landscape. But, her face was no longer that of someone waiting patiently. Her eyes strained to see as far as they could.

The dark trees of the forest were barely visible in the predawn light and even Aruru's youthful eyes were pressed to make out shapes. At first her lips were contorted into a frown from her concentration. Then they slowly eased as a dim glow appeared.

Aruru's lips gradually became a smile as the glow eventually became a single fast moving light. The head lamp of Shinji's motorcycle pierced the dark and illuminated the path ahead of him. He easily snaked his way through the field of ruined APCs, and approached the city wall.

"Open the gate! The kid is back!" Came a voice on the wall.

The two royals rushed down the stairs, the younger just a step ahead of the elder. The words of guard on the wall was over heard by several and the news spread through the surrounding structures and homes. By the time Shinji actually arrived at the gate, over a hundred people knew he was back.

The gate at the wall opened slowly. Shinji shut off his bike and walked beside it. Intent on not driving it through the sleeping city. To his surprise a small crowd had gathered on the other side. They were tossing the snow like peddles into the air over his head.

Shinji looked left and right not sure what to make of the spectacle. Suddenly, a small form jumped up and grabbed him. Aruru held her brother tight around the neck, nearly chocking the poor boy. Shinji escaped only to be tackled from behind by the other sister.

The stunned boy was surprised to see smiling faces and people cheering his name. He had never had such fan fair back at NERV and he wasn't sure what to do with it. All he could do was look at his young sister's smiling face and tell her the only thing he could think to say.

"I'm home."

He was lead through the street to the palace and with each block they passed, the crowd grew, adding to the cheering mass. The city continued to celebrate the third child's return as it awoke to the dawning light.

===== Z'ha'dum, Imperial Capitol Planet, sometime later =====

Sephiroth's eyes shot open as the sensations hit him. The silver haired man sat up straight, then stood up from his unplanned nap. He had not been sleeping at his throne due to fatigue, but rather boredom. However, the sensations had stirred him from both rest and listlessness.

"Interesting." Was all he said.

The large throne room had a ramp leading down to a massive blue orb sunken into the ground, with the exit to the room on the other side. The ramp was flanked on either two side by steps seven feet high each. The room its self had a stage like area to the left and right. What propose they had served before he didn't know.

The death god could care less about the old shire's previous uses as he walked down the ramp toward the orb. He laid a hand down on the orb. The blue swirling mass inside churned faster and harder like a storm, but did nothing else. Sephiroth was mildly disappointed. He had hoped to gain an answer from the orb.

Just then, the door swung open and in walked the towering black armor clad death god, Sauron. His menacing size was certainly befitting someone titled a death god, unlike the girlish Diva who followed right behind him, bouncing cheerfully all the way.

"You sensed it?" Sauron said in his booming voice.

"Yes." Was all Sephiroth replied with.

"Ooo, sensed what?" Diva asked in child like curiosity.

"The death god Dormin. I had him sealed away for fun. He got loose. Then he was slain." he said.

"SLAIN! By who!" Ganondorf's shocked expression never please Sephiroth.

"By another death god obviously. And know I don't know this one, he's new." He said.

"We should send Vizier immediately to~" Ganondorf was cut short.

"Do nothing. In fact, have him halt the invasion of the rebellious territories altogether." Ordered Sephiroth.

"W-what? We've been planning that assault for over a year! With it we can~" Again the green skinned death god was cut off.

"End the war. *_sigh_* How udderly boring." Diva said with disdain.

"I know, but a new death god, this war could easily escalate into a wonderful new era of blood shed." Grinned Sephiroth.

"You foolish silver haired freak! What will Aries and Aizen think of~" Still Ganondorf could not finish.

"I think it's irrelevant to rebel against us as we can not die so it is irrelevant as to when we choose to end the war. Said Aizen as he entered.

"Aries is the same as Aizen." Sauron said.

"And Vizier won't mind if we tell him to wait." Diva chirped in.

Ganondorf looked around the room. All of them were hell bent on letting a new death god do as it pleased. The green skinned man shook his head as he stormed out of the room.

"Fools." Was the only sentence he ever competed.

With the brooding Hylian gone, Sephiroth's attention turned back to the blue orb. Again he tried to gain information by putting his hand on the orb, this time more forcefully. A horrible sound, almost like a man screaming in pain came from the object, but still, nothing new was learned.

"Very interesting." Thought the one winged man.

= **To Be Continued**

**Credits**

Shinji = _Neon Genesis Evangelion_

Mutio = _Blue Sub. NO. 6_

Eruru + Aruru + Oboro = _Utawarerumono_

Major Motoko Kusanagi = _Ghost in the Shell S.A.C._

Gandalf + Sauron = _Lord of the Rings_

Moro = _Princess Mononoke_

Dormin = _Shadow-El of the Colossus_

Sephiroth + Red XIII = _Final Fantasy VII_

Aizen = _Bleach_

Diva = _Blood+_

Ganondorf + Wolf Link/Shadow-El

Kratos = _God of War_

**Closing Notes**

I know it took me forever to finish this and maybe I will never get the whole story written (It is actually a big epic). But I will never give up! I'm back in school and I have a job, but I expect things to clear up mid February. I'll keep going no matter what. Promise.

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and as always, Thanks for reading. _Zidane Ace._


End file.
